Let It Out
by AmaraSan
Summary: This story begins a year after Hughes' death, in Central, on the anniversary. Roy Mustang has sent for Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, and Elizabeth Leone, the Steel Wing Alchemist. Upon their return, they are given a mission: the rivals must work together on this mission whether they like it or not... Includes all characters plus some originals. Canon and x OC pairings.
1. Chapter 1: Arriving in Central

Perhaps through all the years, most would have forgotten about all the horrible things that had happened in the past. The Ishbalan war, the millions of lives lost between the natives and the military. All alchemists and military personnel that had been present at the time of all that bloodshed, smiled behind the fear of what they had done. If they could not hide it, they were driven insane by it, and either killed themselves or ended up in a mental institution. The constant shield over the military's eyes, what they kept from the public, and even their own new recruits. Every year a new face was added to the line of State Alchemists, and every year a face was lied to about the past battles that were hidden in the darkest archives of Central…

* * *

The sky was cloudy, gray and it was obvious it was going to rain. A soft sigh escaped a male figure's lips before they turned away from the window, sitting on the leather chair in front of a desk piled with paper work. Dark blue optics looked up to the door as the man leaned his cheek on his fingers. His hand was bare, which was rare for the Flame Alchemist. He shut his eyes for just a moment before opening them once more, looking down to the paperwork before him. No one else was here. They hadn't bothered him since the beginning of the day, since it was the same day of Maes' death. Everyone knew it hit Roy the hardest; after all Maes had been like a father; he saved his life, and was always there for him.

Of course Mustang would never show this to anyone except one person, Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye. There were three other people he'd confide in; perhaps not on purpose, but it happened: the Elric brothers, and his dear cousin—they had almost been as close to Maes as he had. He shook his head; he had to stop thinking of the past. Grabbing a nearby pen, he began to work on the mountains of papers before him. He knew the faster he got this done, the quicker he could go home. He was waiting for a report from the Fullmetal before he took what he could home.

Roy was in no mood to joke, be sarcastic or even poke fun at the pipsqueak. It was obvious how much he was hurting, even to someone who didn't know him. However, keeping his word, he remained in duty, and would do anything to hide the fact that he wasn't fit for work. He stood before walking back to the window, seeing the blond-haired boy accompanied by a large suit of armor outside below. He was relieved to see they looked well, and were finally on their way inside to give him the report he was waiting for. He cared for the two though often he would not show it, poking fun at Edward constantly. His one want for them was for the two of them to find a way to restore their bodies. A very small smile crept to Roy's lips before he turned and sat back on his leather chair, continuing to write on the paperwork before him. He knew it would be a little while longer before they showed up, so he just kept working on the annoying papers in front of him…

Smoke filled the air as a train squeaked and screeched and heaved to a stop at Central Station. The crowd milled about on the platform with little notice of the new arrivals, save the crowd of people waiting there excitedly and expectantly for loved ones. Everyone was so occupied with their own business that no one payed any attention to one girl in particular-why should they? Even if they had been curious, perhaps of the symbol adorning the back of her long, vibrant red coat, that curiosity paled in comparison to the shock and awe that would result from one glance at the one meeting her.

The young woman tightened her grip on her suitcase, frozen mid-step as she got off the train. "...Major." She greeted, less than enthusiastically, reluctantly taking a few more steps off the train and closer to her "escort".

"Oh, Elizabeth Leone, it is so good to see you!" Major Armstrong closed the gap between them in two strides-for her it would have taken twice that, at least-and trapped her in a spine-breaking, bone-crushing bear hug. "It has been far too long!"

She winced, dropping her only luggage as he lifted her off the ground. "Yeah, it's...great to see you too, Major Armstrong...! Now...put me down..! Y-You're crushing me...!"

He did not seem to be listening, but all the same he had her back on her feet within a few seconds. "Are you ready to be escorted to Central Headquarters?" The massive man looked down as she grasped the handle of her suitcase once more. "Would you like for me to fetch the rest of your things?"

She shook her head, inadvertently shaking the black hair that shielded her blue eyes out of her face, and smiled her thanks. "No, this is everything." She lifted the case to indicate "this", and he nodded, and then took it from her. She really had no choice but to let him.

"Very well, then! Let's be on our way! The Colonel is waiting." As he walked away to lead her to the vehicle awaiting them, she rolled her eyes as she moved to follow him. "Great...I can't wait..."

The whole trip, Armstrong talked non-stop in an attempt to catch her up on everything that had happened in Central over the past year since she had been there. Elizabeth couldn't get a word in edge-wise-even when he asked her about herself, he would continue talking. So it was almost a relief when they slowed to a stop in front of Central's Military HQ...almost. Still, her sigh was one of relief, and the moment she saw her chance, she shoved the door open and made her escape before the car had even fully stopped. "Well, Major, it was good to see you again!" She called over her shoulder, booking it up the stairs and to the entrance of the large military building.

The guards inside stopped her, but before she could even grasp her pocket watch that served as identification, a familiar voice rang out from behind them.

"It's alright. She's here to see the Colonel."

The men stiffened and turned to salute their higher ranking officer. "Yes, Lieutenant Hawkeye." They spoke in unison. One relaxed as recognition dawned on his face. "Ohh, right. You're Elizabeth, aren't you? You've grown. I almost didn't recognize you."

The raven-haired girl smiled politely and nodded. "Thanks." She moved past them and followed the lovely blonde woman, letting the Lieutenant lead her to Mustang's new office.

Once they were gone, the other soldier leaned toward his friend and whispered, "Who was that kid?"

The first soldier glanced at him and nodded. "Right. You're new. That 'kid' is the Colonel's cousin, the Steel Wing Alchemist."

The second man's jaw dropped. "She's a State Alchemist at her age?"

The first nodded. "She qualified the year after the Fullmetal Alchemist. Same age as him. The second kid to achieve such a high honor."

The newbie let out a low whistle.

Upstairs, Elizabeth was following close behind the Lieutenant. She had been quiet so far, but she couldn't refrain from satisfying her curiosity any longer. "So, Lieutenant Hawkeye. How have things been going here in Central? Anything...different?"

Hawkeye glanced over her shoulder and gave the younger woman a tiny smile. "Well, as you know, Mustang was promoted."

Elizabeth huffed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, hence all this 'Colonel' stuff...Has he gotten any less smug about it since the promotion?"

Hawkeye managed to suppress her laugh, and kept up her stoic expression.

"...Anything…else?" Came a hesitant follow-up.

Hawkeye paused, turning to look at the expression on Elizabeth's face. She studied her for a moment, before she continued down the hall. "He's been doing well."

Elizabeth's cheeks darkened a little, and she frowned. "That's not what I asked..."

This time Riza Hawkeye kept her smile to herself. Rather than answer the girl's question, she stopped in front of a large set of doors. "Here we are..." She knocked, then opened one of the doors and stepped inside, saluting. "She's here, sir."

Roy Mustang stopped for a moment, glancing up at her. He nodded his head some before looking back at his papers. "Send her in…"

Outside, Elizabeth sighed, then entered reluctantly, passing Hawkeye as she left. "...Thanks..." She mumbled, always at least somewhat polite to Hawkeye. She admired the woman, after all; looked up to her. When she entered, the young woman did not look enthused. "Hey, _Lieutenant-Colonel_..." She intentionally used his old title, making a somewhat subtle jab at him.

"Your report..?" He said with a rather blank voice…He didn't look up; he didn't even make eye contact with her. Mustang was out of it, that much was obvious. He didn't want to be here, in fact he just wanted to go home, and maybe drown himself in a few drinks. He knew he would regret it in the morning but that had never stopped the Colonel before.

Elizabeth scowled at her cousin, eying him for a moment before dropping her suitcase beside his couch. She knelt down in front of it to open it, drawing her report from a side pocket. After closing it, she walked across his office and tossed the packet onto his desk. She wanted to make a snarky comment, mad at him for making her come all the way here to deliver her report when she could have just as easily called to fill him in. She had been in the middle of something important. But she bit her tongue, took a deep breath, and then sighed. She knew what day it was, so there was no way she was going to be able to stay mad at him over anything today. As she sighed, she turned to walk back over to the couch, making herself comfortable. She plopped onto the couch and stretched out her legs, letting her shoes 'clunk' onto his coffee table. Her arms stretched out across the back of the couch, and for a moment she let her head fall back.

The blonde groaned as he trudged into the large building in front of him, his heavy boots clunking as he walked, his amber eyes were locked forward, he was not looking forward to hearing Mustang bitch at him for 'failing' yet again. But, nevertheless the blonde kept walking into the building where his 'superior' was lurking and waiting to unleash his sarcastic and annoying tongue on him. Reluctantly, he trudged up the stairs to Roy's office.

The silence in the room was making her feel awkward and uncomfortable, so Elizabeth glanced at her black-haired cousin and cleared her throat. "Roy..." She began. She was interrupted when her rival, Edward Elric, and his brother suddenly barged into the room without knocking. Blue eyes narrowed at the other young State Alchemist.

Ed was about to say something to Mustang, but stopped when he noticed the female. "How the hell did you beat me here?"

At Fullmetal's exclamation, she turned and looked the shorter blond male and gave him a full, cocky grin. "It's good to see you, too, Fullmetal." She was about to make a comment about the possibility it had something to do with his short legs, but it appeared she and her "rival" were on the same wavelength: they both wanted to keep their bickering to a minimum for the time being. So she held her smart-ass comments in for her cousin's sake.

Looking back at his rival, Edward set the report on the Flame's desk before turning away, glaring over to the raven haired female. Then he started to leave; he really wanted to keep yelling at her, but he knew in front of Roy wasn't the place to be right now. Edward left Roy's office and sighed. He felt bad for Roy, he really did, he knew how hard it was with Hughes' death, and it really did hurt him to see the Flame Alchemist so down like that, though he would never admit it.

He started to walk back down the stairs to head back to the hotel where he was staying, but stopped and glanced up the stairs sighing as he did so. Part of him did not want to just leave, but he knew his stupid rival would take care of Mustang, and it would be less awkward with her making sure the Flame didn't do anything stupid.

Once Fullmetal had left the office, Steel Wing turned to look at the mighty Flame Alchemist again. It was difficult for her to see him looking like this. It was painful to see him in such a state, honestly. She had been thinking about poking fun at Edward moments ago, but now all she wanted to do was run to her higher-ranking officer and hug him as tight as she possibly could. But it had been a long time since they had seen one another, and she could not bring herself to do it. He was family, though, so she knew she had to do something.

Roy slowly glanced up and started putting his papers away and into a briefcase. "I apologize for asking you out here, Steel Wing. I'm sure you were rather busy and had your own things to attend to, but I have a job for you and Fullmetal. I'll tell you about it tomorrow. You're dismissed." He said before going back to sticking the papers in the case before sitting down staring at his desktop waiting for his cousin to leave. He didn't want to talk; he didn't want to do anything…

When he spoke of her having other things to do, Elizabeth shook her head. She was about to tell him she did not mind, even if it was sort of a lie, but then he spoke of a job for her here. This time she opened her mouth to protest, but quickly shut her mouth and decided against it. The village she had been investigating was not going to go anywhere, and perhaps now was a good time to be in Central.

Now who was he kidding, thinking he could just dismiss her like that? "I'm not leaving." She stated. "Not yet." She gave him a hard look that said she meant it, then stood and walked over to his desk. She placed her right hand on the wooden surface, while her left rested on her hip; she was always cautious, and by now it was just habit. Tilting her head to one side, she stared down at him, waiting for him to look up.

Mustang stopped what he was doing and slowly looked up at her, his dark blue eyes locked onto her. "I assure you, Elizabeth, I'm fine. Please go home." He said before looking away from her finishing putting his paperwork away. But Mustang's cousin shook her head, shaking her raven bangs in front of her eyes. She was going to be stubborn about this one; she was not going to leave him alone, whatever he wanted. "Sorry, Roy, but I'm not buying it. And I'm not going anywhere." She grumbled, and then folded her arms across her chest as she stared at him with fierce determination in her blue eyes.

Momentarily acting as though he had not heard her, Mustang started to walk out of his office. Elizabeth followed him with her eyes as he started to leave, and then actually moved to follow him when she saw him nearing the door. She grabbed her suitcase with her right hand, scooping it up by the handle on her way out.

Roy really wasn't himself, and he knew that. He would be fine by tomorrow, and he knew that as well, he just wished everyone else would leave him alone today and let him go take care of his sorrow in his own way. He knew it wasn't the best way but it was his way…and it worked for him, he would just end up nursing a headache tomorrow which was nothing the Flame couldn't deal with.

He knew that Elizabeth just wanted to stop him from being so depressed, they hadn't seen each other in a while but he still just wanted to be alone right now, and just think about something other than the thoughts plaguing his mind… At his office doors, Roy stopped walking suddenly and looked back at her. She was surprised when he paused, and nearly crashed into him, but she managed to stop herself before they collided.

"If you want…you can stay with me tonight, at least until you find a hotel or something." He said, before continuing on his way out the doors.

Looking up at him she blinked, surprised he was actually inviting her to stay over at his place. She had made arrangements for a hotel in advance, but she would really rather keep an eye on her cousin, at least for tonight. "Yeah...okay, sure." She mumbled with a nod, and then clenched her hand around the handle of her suitcase as she moved to follow him closely.

Roy nodded and started walking down the stairs and outside to one of the cars waiting for him. He opened the door and crawled in, staring out the window with a blank expression on his face. His younger cousin followed close behind. It was raining lightly now, but she ignored the drizzle as she shut the door behind her. She stared out the opposite window for most of the car ride, though she did steal a glance at her elder cousin every now and then with a concerned look on her face.

As the car pulled to a stop in front of his place, Mustang got out and walked up to his front door without a word. Unlocking it, he opened it and sighed some.

Elizabeth grabbed her suitcase as she exited the car quickly to follow him, calling a "Thank you!" to the driver out of habit as they pulled away. It was raining a little harder now, so she hurried after Mustang into his house, then closed and locked the door behind her. She hung up her dripping cloak by the door and took a curious look around-it still looked like Roy lived here.

"You can take the bed tonight…I'll just sleep on the couch." Her cousin mumbled before walking to his desk setting the brief case down starting to work on some of his paperwork in complete silence.

The raven-haired youth nodded when he offered her his bed. She had thought for a second about insisting she take the couch, but quickly thought it over and decided against it. She was not concerned about comfort; she had slept on less comfortable things than a couch before. However, there were certain things she needed to be cautious about.

She wandered about briefly until she found his room, and then dropped her suitcase on the floor beside his bed. She found the bathroom and shook her hair like a dog over the bathtub. Then she wrung out her braid over the sink until her hair was merely damp.

While she was distracted with exploring his apartment, Roy slowly stood and wandered to his fridge before pulling out a can of beer and opened it, before moving to take a drink of it. He knew his cousin wasn't going to let him, but he figured she wouldn't be able to get over here to completely stop him. He didn't even want her here, but he knew if he didn't invite her she would have showed up anyway. He was still a bit wet from the rain outside, and his hair was dripping slowly onto the floor as he brought the can to lips about to take a sip.

Satisfied, she wandered back through the living space until she found Mustang, just as he was lifting the can of beer to his lips to drink. "Ah-" She made a disapproving sound as she quickly closed the gap between them and placed her right hand between the can as his mouth. "No way," She ground out through clenched teeth as she glared at him stubbornly, though there was some concern in her eyes as well; even if she was unaware she was showing it. Only someone who knew her well would even notice. "Go to bed, Roy." She snapped as she took the can from him and whisked it over to the sink, dumping it down the drain without the slightest bit of remorse. "And don't argue with me!" She called over her shoulder. "I know you—'Just one' turns into more, and then whiskey or tequila or some other nasty..." She trailed off, grumbling under her breath.

Her older cousin blinked a few times. "Hey...That wasn't cheap." He mumbled, glaring slightly, as his cousin poured his drink down the drain.

The Colonel's younger cousin shot him a warning glare in return when he complained about her disposing of his drink.

"I'm not going to go to sleep. I'm not tired…I'll just…go do paperwork or something." He mumbled, almost the most words he had said all day. He walked over to his desk and sat down, starting to sign his name, and go over paperwork. He knew he would get tired from doing this; after all it was incredibly boring.

The raven-haired girl shrugged, shaking out the rest of the foul-smelling beverage from its can into the drain of the sink. If he did not want to sleep, she was not going to knock him out and force him. So long as he was not trying to drown his sorrows in drink, he could do just about anything else he wanted. After she had disposed of the can as well, removing all temptation, she walked out of the kitchen and found a perch near his desk. She grabbed a nearby chair and flipped it around, sitting in it backwards. She watched him scrawl his name on the papers over and over, slowly becoming drowsy from the repetitive sound.

After some time had passed, Roy glanced up at his cousin before mumbling. "Thanks…Elizabeth." He said.

When he stopped, she perked up for a moment. She tilted her head to the side questioningly, briefly wondering what he was thanking her for. When she caught on, she smiled softly. "Any time," She murmured in reply.

After signing another stack of papers, Roy stood, before walking to the couch and taking off his jacket, then falling onto it and shutting his eyes. He was pretty tired and depressed, and he just wanted this day to be over. He really wanted to just drink his sorrows away but he realized that apparently wasn't what he really wanted, since he asked his cousin over. He had known she wouldn't let him drink. He sighed some and slowly started to let sleep overtake him.

Seeing that her cousin appeared to be finished for the night, Elizabeth stood, putting the chair back where she had found it. She stretched, grunting softly when her shoulder cracked. It had been a long day on the train, so sitting again for so long and drifting off may not have been her best idea. But Roy was going to bed, and she liked the idea as well, so she could sleep off her exhaustion.

She watched him lying on the couch for a moment, then turned and disappeared. She came back into the room a moment later carrying a blanket, which she spread and threw over him gently. Then she knelt beside him carefully, avoiding allowing her right knee to make contact with the floor, and keeping her left arm at her side. Leaning forward, she pecked him quickly and gently on the cheek. "Goodnight, Roy." Then she quickly stood and disappeared into the room he had given up for her.

Once in her cousin's bedroom, she shut and locked the door. She had been hesitant to lock it, but she would have to lie and blame it on her "feminine shyness" or something. She could not take any risks in allowing her brother-like cousin to find out about her "accident"... Opening her suitcase, she pulled out her sleep clothes and laid them on the bed. Then she took off her shoes, gloves, and jacket, revealing her normally well-hidden limbs of automail. Her entire left arm and most of her right leg were gone, replaced by metallic ones.

She paused to stare at her odd limbs in the bathroom mirror, then shook her head and turned her back to the reflective surface. She finished undressing and changing into her night clothes-a loose pair of pants and shirt-then threw herself onto Mustang's bed. Crawling under the covers, she turned out the light, snuggled into the warmth, and soon fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2: The Mission Part One

_*****This fanfiction is based on a roleplay between AmaraSan (now known as AmaraSama) and Shikkachi.*****_

_**If you are interested in knowing which characters are being played by whom, please do not hesitate to ask!**_

* * *

As the morning crept up into the sky, Roy's eyelids fluttered open. He sat up and rubbed his eyes before throwing his legs over the side, he stretched and grinned, before going to knock on his own bedroom door. "Oi, Elizabeth wake up." He said, jiggling the handle, raising a brow when it was locked.

Elizabeth woke to the sound of her cousin knocking on the door. She was awake in an instant, though groggy; she was fairly certain she had been snoring. She tried to blink the bleary-eyed look away as she stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom.

Roy shook his head, before walking into his kitchen. He made himself some toast before stuffing it into his mouth, chewing on it gently as he packed up the paperwork, the same bored look on his face that always was whenever he was near paperwork. His blue eyes looked over to the door again, he just shook his head. He had no clue why she'd lock the door, it's not like he'd go barging in there without knocking; she was after all basically his little sister.

After taking care of her business, Elizabeth changed into her usual clothing, pulled on her boots, and finally left the room fully dressed. Her mid-back-length hair was down, and she was holding her suitcase in her right hand as she scratched the back of her head with her left and yawned. Dropping her suitcase beneath her long coat by the door, she wandered into the kitchen. After twisting her hair into a braid and tying it off, she helped herself to the bread and made herself a slice of toast as well. Chewing on a corner of it, she leaned against the wall, and then looked over at her cousin. "Ready to go?" She asked around the toast. Yes, she was just so feminine she needed to sleep behind a locked door.

He nodded as he stuffed all the papers away "Mhm." He grumbled, before standing putting his military jacket back on. "Stupid job." He grumbled.

Elizabeth scooped up her suitcase on the way out, slinging it over her shoulder. "Oh, quit complaining. You're never going to climb to the top with that attitude." She was teasing him, and her tone gave it away if the sly grin on her face did not.

"By the way…" He said, looking over to her with a grin as he pretended to ignore her comment. "I know you're going to enjoy my little assignment, and I also know you can't say no, so I hope you and the little short one get along well enough." He said before walking out of his door and to the car that was waiting for them he got in and crossed his legs, the same goofy grin still on his lips.

The grin tugging at Elizabeth's lips quickly vanished when he mentioned her mission. Her previous expression was replaced by a wide-eyed one, and her cheeks flushed a light shade of red. "What!" She exclaimed, and then half-chased Roy, diving into the car and growling as she slammed the door shut, startling the driver briefly. They should have been used to it by now-unless they were new—she almost never noticed. "Ed is so competitive! He's always trying to beat me-there's no way we can work together!" As if she was one to talk, though. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, glaring out the window. She was blushing, but it could be chalked up to anger as easily as anything else.

"Now now, my dear cousin, I am your superior and as such I'm ordering you to work with Fullmetal." He said still grinning.

* * *

Edward was sitting in Roy's office grumbling, he knew he had another mission to be told, but he knew nothing of being sent on it with his rival…So, Edward waited on the couch, his arms on the back of the couch a loud and bored yawn escaped his throat as he stared at the ceiling.

* * *

The Steel Wing Alchemist was still fuming and doing her best to ignore her cousin throughout the duration of the car ride.

As they pulled into the front of Central HQ, Roy got out and just walked like he wasn't about to be punched by his younger cousin. "It's nothing too bad, so relax, Steel Wing. " He said.

Elizabeth grumbled something indiscernible under her breath, jumping out of the car the second it pulled to a stop in front of Central Headquarters.

Looking back at her, he paused. "By the way, about yesterday," He turned and glared. "I'm Colonel now, so If you're going to insult me at least try a little harder." He said before opening his office door.

Elizabeth was still fuming in her cousin's general direction as they climbed the stairs. "Oh I'll be sure to, Colonel-" If she was about to say something else, it was silenced as soon as they entered his office.

"Ah, Edward, how good of you to show up."

Ed was about to say something before he looked behind Mustang and saw the raven haired female; his jaw dropped. "What the…why is SHE here? You can't tell me SHE'S the reason you told me to leave Al at home…She's not my partner, my brother is!" He said flailing slightly.

Even if Elizabeth had wanted to continue, she would have been interrupted by the Fullmetal's complaining. "And I work better alone." She grumbled, leaning against the Flame Alchemist's desk, folding her arms across her chest and glaring at the wall instead of at Edward. She knew there was no use arguing her cousin-higher-ranking officer's orders, but that had never stopped her from trying before, and would not now.

"I hate you Mustang." Edward said, looking away.

Rather than argue further, Elizabeth sighed and rolled her eyes, then closed them. "...Whatever." She gave up. "Just don't get in my way. I would hate to trip over you, short stuff." She grumbled. She could not bring herself to look Roy in the eyes; if she did, he might see the redness returning to her cheeks.

Edward glared at her viciously. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SMALL? YOU'RE ONLY LIKE TWO INCHES TALLER THAN ME!"

Roy just smiled; he was enjoying torturing these two. "I'm glad you see it my way…" He said grinning still before sitting in his chair crossing his arms over his chest. "Now, about your mission, there's a small village a while away from here that a few things have been…off. We've gotten reports of the Homunculi being around there as well as Scar." He said before shutting his eyes. "So, I'm hoping you two would be so kind as to find them." He said leaning back.

The raven-haired girl just rolled her eyes again when Roy spoke, then sighed and resigned to listening as he described their mission. Her face became more somber the more he spoke, and she nodded. She was a little surprised he was actually sending them, more-so her into a dangerous situation, but she certainly appreciated his sudden trust in her. Assuming that was what this was...

"There have also been rumors of something more you'll be interested in, Edward." Mustang said opening his eyes.

When he mentioned something of interest to Ed, Elizabeth began to speak without thinking, "You mean the Philos-" But she was interrupted and her words drowned out yet again as Fullmetal spoke.

Ed blinked and looked over to Roy. "Tch. So why couldn't I do this with my brother? You know someone I actually know would have my back if Scar or the Homunculi did show up."

Roy shook his head. "Relax Fullmetal, Steel Wing will behave and you will both work together…Right?" He said glaring slightly; he had his reasons for sending these two…

She snorted, and then actually started to laugh; not laughing at him, but genuine laughter. Composing herself as quickly as she could, she waved her hand dismissively. "Yeah, of course." There was a cocky edge to the smile on her lips, but she was being serious now. "Don't worry. Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I don't know how to fight. I had one hell of a teacher." She stuck her tongue out at Ed quickly, retaliating for his lack of trust in her. Then she turned her attention back to Roy. "So, when do we leave?" She asked eagerly, though she tried to hide her eagerness with a mask of cool and calm.

"Tonight." The Flame Alchemist retorted looking over to them. "So, I'd advise you two to settle your differences slightly before then. You two are going to have to get along long enough." He hissed before standing and walked over to his window, staring out it.

The Steel Wing Alchemist smirked and stared pointedly at Edward. "I'm pretty sure I can manage that." She replied in a cocky manner.

"Fullmetal, stay here for a few minutes, Steel Wing, you're dismissed." He said glaring back at her.

Her attitude vanished, however, as soon as her cousin dismissed her, basically kicking her out.

Ed blinked and looked over to him nodding his head.

Elizabeth was going to protest again, but she clenched her jaw and decided against it when she saw the look on his face. He was serious, and though she did not enjoy feeling as though she were being left out of something, she knew better than to argue this time. "Yeah, okay. Later, Colonel." She called over her shoulder with a casual wave as she scooped up her suitcase and slung it over her shoulder.

As she closed the door behind her, she considered eavesdropping, but decided against that as well. This time, however, it was because she saw the Lieutenant approaching from down the hall.

She trotted over to the taller, older female with a smile and a wave, but that quickly turned into a salute and an attempt at a more serious expression.

Hawkeye returned the salute, and gave the girl a tiny, gentle smile. "At ease, Steel Wing."

Elizabeth blushed and lowered her arm, folding her hands behind her back.

"Did you just come from the Lieutenant-Colonel's office?" The blonde asked, sort of wondering why the girl was alone.

"Yes." She responded with a nod, and then added. "He wanted to talk to Edward about something alone..."

Hawkeye smiled knowingly, feeling a little sorry for the dejected look on the young girl's face. "I'm sure it must be 'something between men.'" Though he teased more than showed the girl he cared, Riza Hawkeye had a fairly good sense of how her superior officer felt about his cousin. They were really more like brother and sister, not just in looks, but in how much they cared for one another-even if they had a hard time showing it in front of the other for some reason or another. "He explained the mission he's sending you and Edward on tonight, correct?"

Elizabeth responded with a nod and an, "mhm!"

Riza gave the girl another gentle smile. "Shouldn't you go prepare yourself, then?" Elizabeth nodded enthusiastically. "I'm on my way to do that now! See you later, Lieutenant!" Then she trotted off down the hall and out of the building. She had everything she needed on her, but she wouldn't mind finding somewhere to grab a bite to eat before the trip…

* * *

Once Roy was sure his cousin had left he turned to face Edward. "If you let anything happen to her I swear you will be burned faster than you can say 'sorry.'" He hissed with an incredibly evil glare in his eyes.

Ed just grinned. "You'd have to catch me first."

Roy walked up to him and grabbed his shirt, glaring. "I'm not joking, Edward…If anything happens to her, I will burn you…" He hissed.

Edward began to sweat, and nodded some. "Alright, alright. Calm down, Mustang." He said before walking quickly out of his office in order to head back to his place to pack. He was grumbling as he walked home, annoyed that the Colonel expected him to watch out for Elizabeth more-so than himself, it just pissed him off! He also didn't get why Alphonse couldn't tag along which just pissed off the blonde even more.

* * *

Roy sighed softly, and sat back down shutting his eyes resting his head on his hands.

Hawkeye knocked on the Lt. Colonel's office door, and then entered with his permission. "I have more papers for you, sir." She spoke in her usual, calm, soft, almost monotone voice, delivering said papers to his desk.

Dark blue eyes looked at Riza and groaned when she said something about papers. "I swear, Hawkeye, I'm never going to have a night alone without papers again." He complained before sighing slightly.

Ignoring him, a thought occurred to her, remembering something Steel Wing had said, and Hawkeye decided to speak it out loud. "I do hope you were easy on Edward...sir; I'm sure Elizabeth will be just fine." Then she stiffened suddenly. "Please forgive my boldness, sir." She requested, saluting.

"Yes, I know, and I also know those two will be quite the team if they would stop butting heads…" Roy said, glancing up to the blonde taking the papers, setting them on his desk. He was quite tempted to just light them all on fire, but he knew he would get yelled at by Hawkeye. Plus he would have no way to put them out. He grabbed his pen and started clicking it. "And I was…nice enough to Edward." He said glancing out the window. "But you can't blame me for wanting to be sure my cousin is okay…I wasn't there for enough of her life…I'm not letting it happen again."

Hawkeye nodded solemnly in agreement with everything Mustang was saying. "Of course, sir," She finally spoke, once he had finished speaking, just standing beside his desk with her hands behind her back as she usually did. He seemed to get more work done with company. Not to mention she wanted to be sure he did not actually try to light his papers on fire to avoid his responsibilities. Second Lieutenant Hawkeye supported Lieutenant Colonel Mustang completely-that included occasionally having to serve as his "babysitter" and scolding him. Someone had to remind him that the climb to the top would not be as easy as he might have once dreamed. Her look did soften briefly, however, when he spoke of his cousin the way he did... But as his firm subordinate.

* * *

Elizabeth took her time wandering around, searching out a good place to eat. The first place that caught her nose's attention in particular was the place she chose to sit down to eat. She found her own seat inside, by one of the windows, so she could watch people mill about without risking getting caught in the potential rain. It looked like the sky was clearing a little, but it was still very cloudy, and she did not want any rain interrupting her meal. She turned and greeted her server with a big grin when they came to take her order. It was nice having the silver watch resting in her pocket at times, at least when it came to benefits like this. She would never go hungry again with the pay she received as a State Alchemist.

After finishing her meal, she had taken to wandering around Central. She had been to this city many times before, but it was not often she had the opportunity to just wander and sight-see.

After browsing shops and the like, she found a park and settled herself beneath a tree. Lulled to sleep by the lazy movement of the leaves in the branches above her head as they were pushed around by the breeze, she quickly fell asleep.

When she woke up, it was far later than she expected. After checking the time on her watch, she snatched up her suitcase and took off running, worried she might miss her train.

* * *

Roy was standing at the train station. He was going to see them both off; he just wanted to be sure they both showed up and they both left at the same time. He knew that they would try to beat each other to their destination and if he found out about that he would be quite pissed off. Mustang had his arms crossed glancing to the side he glared slightly, as he heard the clunk of Edward's boots.

Ed had his bag draped over his shoulder he was staring into the sky with a pissed off look on his face. His long braided hair blew in a strong breeze as the train came screeching to a stop. He sighed slightly. "Wait...I beat her here? HA! YES!" He said punching his hand into the air.

Mustang rolled his eyes. "I already said you two damn well better work together." He hissed, before looking back over to the train, waiting for his cousin.

* * *

By the time Elizabeth reached the station, the train had stopped and Mustang was looking impatient, while Fullmetal looked smug. "Sorry I'm late!" She called, slowing to a stop in front of Roy. Seeing the look on his face, she held up her hands defensively. "H-hey, I didn't miss it, right? Well, time to go." She spun on her heel and made for the train quickly, hoping to escape any of her cousin's potential wrath. "Hurry up, shorty!" She called playfully, really only teasing him in good fun. She was in a much better mood after her earlier meal, a nice relaxing nap, and finally some good old exercise.

The blonde blinked a few times, "Hey! Get back here! I'm not short!" He screamed running after her, holding his bag tightly.

Elizabeth turned and stuck her tongue out at Edward quickly before hopping onto the train to avoid his wrath as well. Once on the train, she took her seat in one of the booths, sitting by the window.

Edward walked into the train after her, and sat down across from his dark-haired companion, staring out the window. He was still annoyed; he wanted to know why Roy was so protective of this girl, it frankly made him even angrier than he usually was. Ed was impatient, and pissed off that Roy was so…so…annoying. Why didn't he care if he got hurt? Just this girl in front of him.

* * *

Roy sighed softly; he stuffed his hands in pockets as he started walking to the car that was waiting for him he sighed again getting in, going back to Central he walked past Riza looking back at her. His blue eyes giving her a look that said 'follow me.'

Lieutenant Hawkeye saluted her superior, then nodded and followed him as he motioned.

Once they were inside his office, she shut the door behind him, then stood beside his desk and waited-she knew there was something on his mind.

Inside, Roy sat down at his desk and sighed softly. "Hawkeye…" He said, crossing his fingers in front of his face and under his nose, leaning forward slightly. "Did I make the right choice…? Sending those two?" He whispered staring forward his dark blue eyes staring forward.

She should have known it was about his cousin; he was still worried. Lieutenant Hawkeye assumed he was looking for advice, so she thought for a moment before speaking. "I'm sure they'll look out for one another, watch each others' backs. They'll both be fine, sir." She said gently. "And perhaps when they return you should consider telling Elizabeth how you feel-or showing her, at least. I'm sure she would appreciate it, sir." _More than you may realize. _She thought.

Roy glanced over to her and sighed some. "I could, but…It just doesn't seem like she wants me to really protect her like this…I wasn't there for most her life, and I feel bad enough, knowing her she'll probably snap at me." He said before putting his head on the desk. "I'm sure they won't let anything happen to one another, despite the fact the fact that their rivals, they're still well…I don't know what word to use exactly." He just sighed and leaned back shutting his eyes his arm over the side of his chair sighing. "Now I have nothing to do." He groaned putting his head on the desk again.

Hawkeye folded her hands behind her back and took a step closer to Mustang's desk. "Sir, with all due respect, you won't know until you try. And if I know Elizabeth half as much as you do, she may be stubborn, but she cares for you very much. Something the two of you seem to have in common. You must also realize, she is still very young. She may not want to acknowledge it, but that is why _you_ have to be there for her, whether she admits she needs your help or not, sir." Then she smiled another tiny, hidden smile. But that turned into a frown quickly when he began acting bored, as though he did not have a mountain of paperwork to do which he had continuously been putting off. "You could always do your work, _sir_." She said in her icy, calm voice. Her tone was threatening, though she was not so bold as to directly do so.

Roy looked over to Riza with a bored look on his face… "I could…but that would be just as boring as sitting here." He said before looking back at his desk putting his head back on it. "Hm." He sat up slightly before glancing over to Hawkeye.

Mustang's Lieutenant gave him a hard stare as he complained. A stare, which quickly turned into a glare; and one that delivered her thoughts quite well. If he did not get to work on his responsibilities, she was considering threatening him in a far more violent way, likely involving her gun.

Seeing the look on her face, he began to sweat, then gave in and just started signing and doing his paperwork. This rendered threatening him unnecessary.

* * *

Elizabeth glanced at Fullmetal as he sat across from her, and then gazed out the window. She was going to wave to her cousin, but he was already gone; then, as she thought about it, it may have seemed a little childish to do so and she did not want Ed to see that part of her. Whatever...it seemed to work out in her favor anyway; it may have only annoyed him further, though she would not have known as she did not know Roy's protective nature was the current cause of his annoyance.

"So…did Roy tell you anything else…about our mission, I mean?" Ed grumbled; he really wanted to be with Al, he didn't get why he couldn't bring him.

When he spoke to her, Elizabeth finally turned to look at him. She only shrugged, and then stretched casually before folding her arms in front of her chest and crossing her legs. "Not a thing. You?" She asked as she quirked a brow, wondering if Roy had kept him in the office longer to discuss the Philosopher's Stone. She guessed that was a large part of why they were going, except that made her wonder how her cousin had known to send her with him. Would he even tell her if that _was_ the topic of their "secret" conversation?

Edward shook his head. "Nope, he just told me that if I didn't keep you safe he'd burn me to death." He said still staring out the window.

Elizabeth let out a nervous laugh and looked away. "Huh...did he, now? You don't say." She fidgeted for a moment, looking out the window, then stopped wriggling in her seat and looked at Ed again when she heard him take a breath to continue speaking.

"But no, he didn't tell me much, he didn't really tell me anything, just what he told us together." He said still staring out the window, waiting for the train to take them to their stop. He sighed softly again shutting his golden optics.

"Hm." She made a soft sound to acknowledge what he said. She was thoughtful for a moment, just looking at him in silence. She was hesitant to say anything, but as they were already on their way to their destination and their mission, she thought a show of good faith and a peace offering was in order. Information about her theory seemed like a good start. "I think...maybe Ro-the Colonel...is sending us towards a lead on the Philosopher's Stone." She leaned forward, keeping her voice down since there were other people in the car around them.

The blonde blinked looking over to her and nodded some. "I'm pretty sure. It wouldn't surprise me, that is usually why he sends me out, but why he sent you with me instead of Al is beyond me. That man makes no sense…" He sighed some before leaning forward slightly.

Elizabeth nodded in agreement, staring levelly into Edward's eyes in return. She glanced away, then back, only for a split second out of nervousness. She was seeking the Philosopher's Stone as well, but Ed did not know that, and it was not likely her cousin did, either. She decided she would continue to keep that little tidbit of her personal life to herself.

"Mustang also said something about the Homunculi…have you dealt with them before?" Ed whispered still not wanting to cause alarm to those around them. Fullmetal's eyes were locked onto her. He blinked a couple times; he had never actually been this close to her, they were always yelling at each other, so he never realized…she was actually kind of pretty.

Elizabeth's blue eyes were locked onto Fullmetal as well as she spoke again. "I have," She admitted hesitantly, "but only a couple of times. I met the ones who call themselves Lust and Gluttony once, and I had a brief run-in with Envy-though I almost didn't realize it." She admitted again, not proud of the fact. Envy had been disguised as an officer of the military, though, so it was not as though she had failed to recognize someone she was close to not acting like themselves. "You have, too, right?" She already knew the answer, but since they were sharing... She had overheard a great many things about Edward Elric and his brother, and their "adventures."

Edward nodded slightly. "Yeah…Those two, Envy and Greed. " He said.

After a moment, when she realized he was staring at her, Steel Wing tilted her head to one side and blinked. "What?" She asked him, wondering what he was staring at. Did she have something on her face?

Edward blushed slightly and looked away from her. "Nothing, Just thinking." He lied before looking out the window, and then shutting his eyes, sighing some. If he found the Philosopher's Stone…This time he could fix Al for sure. He had to follow this lead, and really look into it, more so than he normally would… Fixing Alphonse was all that mattered to him. He glanced over to her again. "So, why did you ask about the Philosopher's Stone? You seem pretty interested in it…"


	3. Chapter 3: The Mission Part Two

It was for quite some time that Hawkeye stood beside Mustang, just gazing out the window while he did his paperwork. She would glance at him occasionally, but only when she was certain he would not notice.

Roy just kept signing the papers. The pile slowly getting smaller and smaller, but his hand was killing him. He slowly put down the pen, before turning away, spinning the chair and looking out his window. Shutting his eyes, leaning back in his chair slightly, his left hand rubbed his right gently, trying to stop it from being so sore.

When he finally stopped, obviously nursing an aching hand, the Lieutenant approached him again with another, kinder suggestion. "Why don't you go home and get some rest for the night, sir? It's late, and you made significant progress." She glanced pointedly at the much smaller stack of papers he still had left to do.

Roy blinked and nodded. He started to stand but stopped, looking over at her. "Hawkeye, would you want to…come to the bar with me? Or get dinner?" He asked, tilting his head slightly.

Hawkeye shifted and prepared to leave the office, but paused and turned when Mustang spoke. "No thank you, sir." She deadpanned immediately in response.

Roy blinked and grabbed his chest as though he had just been shot in the heart. "Ouch." He said before standing and walking past her, "See you tomorrow, Hawkeye." He whispered.

Hawkeye closed her eyes when Mustang acted wounded, and then opened them to give him a proper farewell. "See you tomorrow, sir." She answered softly, and then took her leave as well. Black Hayate was waiting for her at her apartment, likely wanting very badly to be fed. She had turned Roy Mustang down out of professionalism, but she would only admit to herself how nice it was to have someone to come home to-even if that someone was a well-trained dog.

Outside, Roy Mustang began walking toward the bar alone. He stopped, though, and sighed, turning around and starting to walk home. Staring at the ground, his hands in his pockets, he was thinking about how little he had been there for his cousin. He just hoped Fullmetal would keep her safe on this mission.

* * *

The raven-haired young woman blinked, then shrugged and leaned back in her seat as well. She rested her left elbow on the respective armrest, and then placed her chin on her hard, metal palm. She gazed out the window at the passing scenery for a few minutes while they sat in silence.

When her travelling companion broke that silence, she gave him a side-long glance, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. Unable to look him in the eyes as she tried to come up with a decent excuse, she returned her gaze to the scenery flickering by outside. "Curiosity, I suppose." She murmured after thinking about how best to describe her need and/or desire to search for it.

It was not entirely accurate, but it was not entirely a lie, either. She did want to see where such a power could take her, and if the substance could in fact do what it was rumored to do. But at the same time she was still not certain she should attempt Human Transmutation again, even if it was only to get her body back. She would only be tempted to try yet again to perform the act that had caused the loss of her arm and leg in the first place. And there was, of course, the strong possibility that it still would not work, and she would not be able to bring any of her family back. She closed her eyes tightly for a moment, trying to think of something, anything else...

Edward looked over at her and blinked a few times. That look…He knew that look. He had had the same look before. Slowly he stood and grabbed her left wrist with his right hand, "Elizabeth…" He whispered softly, looking at her before looking away "I knew I knew that look…" He said softly.

Elizabeth was just staring out the window, allowing her mind to wander. She did not notice when Edward stood up, but she certainly noticed when he grabbed her left wrist. Her eyes widened and she looked up at him, recoiling. She was in shock over the fact he had figured it out just like that, and then known exactly which arm to grab. She would have ripped her arm from his grip and tried to make excuses or yell at him, but she was too stunned. She even tried to form some sort of excuse, but when she opened her mouth, no sound came out, so she closed it.

Ed gently let her go looking into her eyes. "Why didn't you tell anyone?" He asked softly. "I would have helped you…I would have…" He looked away and sighed softly

When Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak again, she decided she was caught, so she may as well be honest. "I knew no one would understand... I was stupid, and childish, and I made a grave mistake in my desperation." She lowered her gaze, hiding the pained expression in her eyes behind her black bangs. To be honest, most of all she had not wanted her cousin to find out for fear of how he would react. She was uncertain about telling him about her relation to Roy Mustang because of their arrangement-people might question her position as a State Alchemist if they knew. But this was Fullmetal, and Roy had always seemed to trust him well enough, even if he never actually said so. Regardless of her decision, the words came out before she could stop them, "I didn't want to lose the only family I had left..." Then she clenched her jaw, determined to keep any other thoughts like that to herself.

"I know how hard it is to deal with this, and I had my brother…I can't imagine, how hard it would have been alone…I…" Edward looked at her; his eyes were really soft, and really gentle.

She rapidly shook her head back and forth, then lifted her head and forced a smile as she waved her hands back and forth in front of her. "No, no, don't...don't feel sorry for me, or anything. I've been fine on my own." It was an obvious lie, to her anyway, and she regretted it almost as soon as she had said it. Edward was lucky he still had his brother; she had always thought it, but never said it out loud, nor did she ever intend to. The gentle look in his eyes... It was not something she was used to, at least not a look she had seen in a very long time, or ever, and it seemed to have an effect on her; she was revealing more than she meant to or really wanted to.

Ed just stared at her. "You're lying, but I get you don't want to talk." He said before sitting back down, looking out the window, trying to think of something else to change the subject. "So…uh…" He rubbed the back of his head. He wasn't good at conversation, so he gave up and just leaned against the window, shutting his eyes.

Elizabeth lowered her hands slowly and watched him cautiously. She was not entirely certain he was really going to let her off that easily, but when he leaned back and tried to change the subject, she dropped her suspicion. She leaned back as well, gazing out the window, and realized they were nearing their destination anyway-finally. Their time together had actually been somewhat pleasant, or at least did not involve any arguing, but it would be nice to remove themselves from the awkward atmosphere.

When the train slowly came to a stop, Edward sighed some as he stood and started to walk out to the door of their car. Elizabeth stood as well and followed him out.

"I won't tell anyone." He said to her over his shoulder before walking toward the village, his hand tightly on the handle of his bag.

Elizabeth paused as Ed spoke. She smiled softly as he left the car and what he was saying clicked fully in her mind. This had been a very nice train ride indeed... "So," She began, patting him on the back roughly with her free, flesh hand-which was not holding her suitcase-as they stepped off the train. "We should probably find the nearest place to crash. I'm sure there's a military-run hotel or something nearby, hm?" She was smiling brightly, as though nothing had happened.

Edward blinked a couple times when she slapped his back he just stared at her "Yeah, I'm sure there is, Mustang wouldn't have sent us here if there wasn't…" He said as they entered the village.

The black-haired female let out a nervous laugh, realizing too late that Edward had a very valid point. She should have thought of that before she spoke. Well, at least she had succeeded better than he had in changing the subject.

Edward stopped, looking up at one of the signs. He motioned to it with a nod of his head, and then walked in. They flashed their pocket watches, Edward asked for two rooms, and then both young State Alchemists followed the bellhop upstairs. They were given two rooms right next door to one another. Outside, they both paused without realizing it, until Edward turned and broke their temporary silence.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning…Elizabeth." He said gently before disappearing behind a closed door.

Elizabeth paused to glance at him when he spoke. "Oh...Yeah, see you tomorrow morning...Edward." She replied hesitantly, still not entirely used to the sudden lack of their bickering. Not that she would ever complain; this new development in their relationship was much nicer. Eventually, perhaps it would stop surprising her so much when he was nice to her.

* * *

Inside his hotel room, Ed threw off his jacket and sighed, slowly taking off the rest of his clothes as he made his way into the bathroom. There, he started the shower and took the braid out of his hair; climbing in once it was ready and standing under the warm water, shutting his eyes. He felt horrible for her; he couldn't imagine going through all of that without Alphonse…it killed him. His eyes opened some as he thought back to his childhood. He started to wonder whatever happened to Lizzy, the other little girl he and Al had grown up with…She was so close to them, but one day she was just gone, and he left before she returned…He sighed; he wasn't sure why her face always came into his mind whenever he was around Steel Wing, but she always did…And now with what he knew about her…He just shook his head, and let the water fall down his body.

It wasn't long before Ed was out of the shower with his boxers on, passed out on his bed. He was still thinking about Lizzy, but those thoughts soon faded into the raven-haired girl he was traveling with currently…

* * *

After shutting and locking her own door, Elizabeth unknowingly mimicked his actions. She threw off her jacket, kicked off her boots, and then removed the rest of her clothes before climbing into her own hot shower. Beneath the warmth pounding against and running down her body, she closed her eyes and her mind wandered, for a moment, to the Elrics-in particular, Edward. She had recognized him from the moment she first ran into him again after so many years. He had grown taller, and Alphonse, needless to say, looked much different. But it was nearly impossible for her not to know them after being so close to them for the first, large part of her life. It was disappointing when he did not recognize her, but she understood. He and his brother had been through so much since they had all last seen each other-she had heard through Auntie Pinako and Winry. It was no wonder he did not remember her...or so she thought; even if he did not yet realize who she was. Opening her eyes, she sighed softly. She was enjoying the warm water, but cleaned herself and washed her hair quickly. Then she got out of the shower, dried, and changed into her night clothes. After brushing and drying her hair, she climbed into the warm, comfortable hotel bed and drifted off, falling asleep to happier thoughts of her childhood…

* * *

Fullmetal slept soundly, probably the best he had slept in years. He woke up around 7am and sighed, sitting up, stretching, and rubbing the sleep from his golden optics. He started to get his clothes on before slipping on his coat and braiding his hair since he had left it undone all night, being too tired to fix it when he got out of the shower. He grabbed his bag and opened the door. He was going to go knock on Elizabeth's door, but he figured he'd just meet her downstairs-he was starving. Making his way to the small café that was a part of the hotel, Ed ordered and waited for his food. Not long after it arrived he started to devour it.

* * *

Elizabeth enjoyed a deep sleep, full of dreams she did not remember when she awoke early the next morning. She stared up at the ceiling for several moments, just lying in the warm, comfortable bed and thinking. With a sigh, she finally climbed out of bed and changed out of her pajamas and into her regular clothing. Pausing just before she pulled a pristine white glove over her left hand, she stared at her automail limb for a moment. She was remembering the night before, when Edward had figured out her secret and grabbed onto it. A light blush came to her cheeks, but she soon shook her head, shaking away all thoughts of the incident, along with her embarrassment.

Holding a hair tie between her teeth, she left her hotel room and ascended the stairs, tying her black hair back into a braid as she did so. Her stomach was growling at her, demanding food, and she was more than happy to comply. Once she entered the hotel's cafe, it was easy to spot Fullmetal-he really stood out in a crowd somehow.

Approaching from behind, she reached out to pat him on the back-she was gentle this time, not wanting to make him choke. "Mind if I join you?" She asked pleasantly, and then sat across from him, with or without his permission.

When he felt the pat on the back the blonde looked up and swallowed what was in his mouth, nodding some. "Sure." He said before going back to stuffing his face, taking a sip of water every now and then to help with his ridiculous appetite.

After getting the waiter's attention, Elizabeth indicated the table. "I'll have what he's having." She said without batting an eye. Sure, he ate a lot, but Ed was not the only one here with a healthy appetite.

Edward glanced up slightly and blushed before looking away. "So…uh…how did you sleep?" He asked tilting his head to the side; he really did want to know, after bringing up such a sensitive subject the night before he had hoped he didn't stop her from sleeping. His amber optics locked on to her, still waiting for her reply. He knew he slept like a rock, and really wouldn't have been awoken by anything. He was actually waiting for her to talk before he continued stuffing his face.

* * *

Roy has sighed slightly; these past few days had been so boring with the lack of drinking, anyway. Why was it whenever Elizabeth was around for less than fifteen minutes he always felt like he just couldn't drink like he always used to? He walked into the large building up the stairs and to his desk sitting down in the chairs his head on the desk, he didn't want to do anything today, but he knew he had things to do, and he knew if he didn't get them done of his own free will, his second Lieutenant would make sure he got them done.

Second-Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye was later than her higher-up for once, due to a slight lack of sleep. After Roy Mustang had left, she had "suggested" to his other followers and friends that they help him a little with his paperwork. Havoc was the only one who took a little more persuasion, but she had been rather...convincing.

It was not something she would normally do, but the Lieutenant Colonel looked like he could really use a break and some help. This would also make her job easier, as he would be able to take care of his responsibilities and not complain so much. Not to mention it meant possibly not having to threaten him-with a much less intimidating pile to work with, he could get everything done and focus on his cousin, Elizabeth. She had been the best distraction for him over the last couple of days, even though she was not physically there at the moment. Mustang acted differently when she was around; he did far less to be reckless and stupid. So, as a reward, Hawkeye had opted to help him out.

Finally at Central HQ, Hawkeye flitted about, taking care of other duties and various routines before reporting to her higher-up in his office upstairs.

Roy sighed some, his head was on his desk, the papers he had to fill out and sign were gone, but he was starting to doze off, he was bored, and had nothing to do, plus he was worried about the two alchemists, he may have sent into a death trap.

* * *

The raven-haired female State Alchemist casually glanced around the cafe, trying not to stare awkwardly at the male across from her. She knew of large appetites, and she did not want to interrupt his feast in any way. When he spoke to her directly, however, she turned to look at him, and then shrugged. She was in a very-laid back mood, and it showed even more when she leaned forward and rested her left elbow on the table, cradling her chin in her palm. She actually greatly resembled her cousin for a moment, as he often rested in a similar position. "I slept like a rock. You?" She smiled at him slightly, also genuinely curious; she hoped their serious talk on the train last night had not affected his rest. She studied his face, returning his gaze to judge his reaction as he responded. She glanced at the server and beamed when she was at last served her food, tucking in while she listened to her companion speak. Her amount of hunger was not about to allow her to wait politely while he replied.

The blonde nodded. "I slept pretty well, too." He said going back to devouring the rest of his food.

Elizabeth smiled and mumbled good-naturedly around the large lump of food in her mouth. "That's good." She really was in such a chipper mood today. She was actually enjoying getting to talk with Edward without arguing or teasing one another, even if it was only small talk.

Once Fullmetal was finished, he chugged the rest of his water and sighed, glancing at the ceiling, trying his hardest as well not to awkwardly stare at the female across from him. He knew he was starting to feel something for her and it kind of pissed him off he did not know exactly what it was. He sighed slightly, pushing that thought aside; he was a little worried about Alphonse. He didn't like leaving him alone like this. But orders were orders, and he knew that, he just didn't like it.

The young female went back to chewing and devouring her meal, staring at her plate as she did so. She would have to be more careful about being quite so friendly. Her good mood was likely a result of her happier thoughts the night before, thinking about the blond youth sitting across from her, his brother, their mutual childhood friend. She was almost certain she had had a good dream about them all playing together, laughing, having a good time, like the old days. It had been a very pleasant break from her usual nightmares, but she was letting her guard down too much. She could not show her weakness, not now.

Edward glanced to the side and blinked a couple times as he saw someone staring at the two of them, but the second he looked over, he saw green hair go past the window and he glared. "Hurry, we need to get out of here." He hissed, Ed knew it sounded pushy, but he just had this feeling it wouldn't be a good idea to stay here much longer…

Noticing movement out of the corner of her eye, she blinked, and then glanced towards the window. Her gaze turned cold for a split second when she saw a familiar flash of green hair, but for the moment she decided to finish her meal. When Ed spoke, though, she knew she agreed and sticking around was really not the best idea. She nodded, swallowed her food, and chugged her water, then pushed her chair back as she stood. "Yeah," She muttered under her breath, waiting to follow Fullmetal out of the cafe, and possibly even out of the hotel. "Let's go." If they had really just seen Envy, they needed to attempt to get as far away from people/shields/witnesses as possible...

Edward pushed his chair in grabbed his bag and started walking out. Steel Wing followed suit, pushing her chair in and grabbing her things, then following Fullmetal outside.

"You saw it too right..?" He whispered softly, looking over to her his head still facing forward. His eyes locked onto her, but soon were looking around. They couldn't trust anyone, he wasn't sure if it even was Envy, but how many other people had long green hair?

Elizabeth nodded as her eyes scanned every person around them, not stopping long enough to look at him as she replied. "Yeah..." They had to be careful; the Homunculus could be disguised as absolutely anyone right now. Now, however, it was nowhere in sight, so it must have disguised itself in the few seconds when they were not looking. "It was Env-"

Fullmetal sighed some, before his head turned, "Look out!" He said pushing Steel Wing out of the way, before he groaned feeling something stab into his flesh leg.

She grunted as she was suddenly pushed out of the path of the blade flying at her, catching herself just before she hit a wall. When she turned around, her first concern was Edward.

"Well, well if it isn't the Fullmetal pipsqueak…"

Edward glared up at the Homunculus. Blood was dripping down his leg and onto the ground; he had no idea why Envy just tried to knife Elizabeth. He pulled the knife out and tossed it aside. "I'M NOT A PIPSQUEAK!" He screamed, "And secondly, why are you even here?" He hissed as the expression in his eyes changing to a glare. His leg really hurt, and he was in a lot of pain, but the sheer anger at seeing the Homunculus in front of him was enough to make him forget about it for a moment. He knew the second Envy left he wouldn't be able to walk on it. Before Envy could reply to his question, his hands clapped together and a blade appeared on his automail arm. He then proceeded charging at the Homunculus, who easily dodged the injured Alchemists attempts at stabbing him.

She tried to warn him not to pull it out, but it was too late, and she winced. Looking away, she turned her gaze on Envy and glared. "You bastard...!" She growled under her breath, angered now. Ed took her next question of why the Homunculus was even there right out of her mouth. And now Fullmetal was trying to attack it alone; she was not about to let him continue to think she would not have his back. She looked around quickly, clapped her hands together, and grabbed a nearby pipe. It lit up and changed shape, forming into an elaborate, sharp sword. She ran around Envy's other side, trying to find a blind spot on the Homunculus while it was distracted. As soon as she saw a chance, she took it, attempting to stab Envy anywhere she possibly could to immobilize or weaken him...

Envy jumped and flipped back shaking his head. "Now, why would I tell you two that, hm?" he said before cringing as the sword barely nicked his side. He smirked slightly leaning forward, before disappearing into one of the many crowds.

Elizabeth growled when Envy dodged their question, but she was not about to let the monster dodge anything else. She was not in the mood for the Homunculus's games, less so after it had managed to stab Edward instead of her. It was something of a relief when she felt her sword connect with Envy's body, though it was not a critical enough hit to prevent the creature from running away. "Tch!" Steel Wing ran after the Homunculus, stopping at the edge of the alleyway where she lost it. "Damn it...!" The raven-haired young girl cursed under her breath.

Ed groaned and fell to his knee holding his still bleeding leg and shutting his eyes in pain.

She turned around to look for Ed as soon as she heard him fall and make a pained sound. "Ed-!" She ran for him, and then stopped to look at his leg, holding her arms out towards it without touching it and hurting him more.

Edward slowly opened his eyes and groaned. "Ngh...Are you alright?" He whispered slowly standing up limping over to her smiling slightly. Damn his leg really hurt, why he was standing on it, he wasn't really sure…something just told him to get up and walk over to her.

His amber eyes locked onto her, his leg shaking slightly, blood was trickling down his leg and slowly pooling at his foot, but he would just shift so she couldn't tell how injured he really was, He just kept smiling.

She glowered up at him, scowling in disapproval. "Shut up. I'm not the one who's bleeding." She mumbled, then stood up, hands on her hips. Then her look softened and a concerned look took over her features. "Don't try to hide. Stop being so stubborn and let me help you..." Then, without waiting for his permission or caring if he gave it, she stood beside him and slipped her right arm around his waist. With her left hand, she grabbed his wrist and pulled his arm around her shoulders, holding him up to help support his weight and keep it off his injured leg. "I have a first aid kit in my suitcase; it's in my room. Come on..." She spoke softly, trying her best to be encouraging and keep him moving, even though she was sure it must have hurt. She was speaking almost directly into his ear, though she did not seem to notice or she did not think anything of it.

He blinked when she helped him up "I…uh…" He said blinked a few times walking beside her sighing some, he just nodded and gave up, he was in a lot of pain, and he wasn't about to just ignore that fact to act tough in front of her. "Thanks…" He grumbled, before walking next to her.

Elizabeth laughed softly and shook her head. "Don't mention it..." She murmured in response, continuing to help him along. She continued to scan the crowd, still alert just in case Envy tried to attack them again.

As soon as they had climbed the stairs-very slowly and carefully-and were safely inside her room, she shut and locked the door behind them. Then she helped her companion over to the bed and lowered him onto it carefully, easing him down so he would not fall and hurt himself more.

Once on the bed he cringed slightly despite her attempts at being cautious, holding his leg again, trying to stop the continuous bleeding. He knew he was hurting, and he knew he was badly injured, he just wished he wasn't. His eyes shut again, and he sighed softly. He slowly moved his hand away looking at the wound in his leg. It was pretty deep, and for some reason it really hurt, more than a normal stab wound should. He shut his eyes and glared down at the wound.

Once he was settled, Elizabeth quickly went to work, opening her suitcase and digging around quickly to find her aforementioned first aid kit. She tossed that onto the bed, and then took an extra second to shut her suitcase; another precaution she seemed to have gotten into the habit of. Then she stood and grabbed the kit, popping it open and first pulling out some kind of ointment, then bandages. Finally, she set to work, first applying the ointment as gently as possible to what she could reach of the wound.

His amber eyes looked over to her and he smiled some. "I'm uh…glad he didn't hurt you, though." He mumbled before looking at the ceiling trying to ignore the pain.

She paused for a moment when he spoke, glancing up at him before she went back to work. Her head ducked slightly to hide the sudden warm redness in her cheeks. "I appreciate what you did for me...but you still let him hurt you. Idiot." She grumbled in reply. As soon as she was done cleaning his wound, she went to work wrapping his leg, making certain the bandages were tight enough to do their job, but not so tight they cut off his blood circulation. All the while in the back of her mind, she could not help but think that attack had been a little too quick. She was nervous, but tried her best not to let it show. Instead, she focused on fixing up Fullmetal and making sure he was alright and at least somewhat comfortable.

Ed was looking away from her; he knew something wasn't right-Envy never gave up that quickly. "We need to leave here…I know you know as well as I do that Envy _will_ be back." He whispered before glancing at the ceiling, groaning in pain. He had barely moved his leg; he had no idea why it hurt so badly. A normal stab wound shouldn't hurt this much, but he just tried to ignore it.

Elizabeth was looking at Edward more closely now, wondering why he still appeared to be in so much pain. Something was wrong, with the ointment and the pressure of the bandage, the pain should have lessened at least a little by now. But instead, it only seemed to be getting worse. She nodded, though, and put away her things. "Yeah, I know...You're right." She murmured, reaching for her suitcase.

Fullmetal started to stand but fell to his knee again holding his leg in pain, shutting his eyes and inhaling deeply. "Something's not right…" He whispered. He had had worse than this, he knew that, but this pain was unbearable…He opened his eyes and looked over to Elizabeth. "But…we should get out of here." He mumbled. He hated appearing so weak, but with how his leg was, there wasn't much he could do fighting-wise, and that pissed him off even more than not knowing where Envy had run off to…

Steel Wing dropped her suitcase as soon as he fell, and grabbed his shoulders. "Listen, I think we're safer here for now. And you're not going very far with that-" She stopped speaking as a theory suddenly dawned on her. Helping him back onto the bed, she would force him to lie down if she had to. Then she proceeded to quickly but carefully-so she did not hurt him too much-unwrap his bandages. Then she ripped his pants a little further than the knife already had so she could study the damaged part of his leg.

"Uh…" He started when he saw her rip his pants

She ignored him. It was an odd color; that meant her theory was most likely correct. "He poisoned the blade...!" She gasped, and then growled. "Don't move." She ordered, then stood and ran into her bathroom. She came back a few seconds later with a large bowl, which she placed beside her on the floor. "This might hurt a bit, but try to stay still." The black-haired girl mumbled, then, trying not to think about it, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to the spot. She had to apply some pressure in order to suck the poison out, but she had to do so right away. Even if this looked awkward, she did not care. If she did not get the poison out of his body quickly, his condition would only worsen more.

Edward's eyes than widened even more when her lips pushed against his leg. "Uh…" He said again, blushing slightly. He knew what she was doing, but it was incredibly awkward. He was pretty much bright red at this point. He knew it was the only way but it was still not something he was used to. He glanced down at her. "T—Thanks..." He grumbled. Looking away again, he sighed some, and just waited until she was done with probably the most awkward thing in his life.

She repeated the motion of sucking the poison out of the wound, then turning and spitting it into the bowl, every few seconds. Her cheeks were flushed with embarrassment when she heard him making sounds to indicate his discomfort. But she was not about to stop; she had already started, and she would not let the poison spread any further. She would continue until no more came out, and then sat back quickly.

When she moved up he blushed slightly, and then reached out to place a finger beneath her chin to tilt her head up. Then he shook his head and moved back, trying not to over-think it. "Thanks." He said, letting her go before looking up at the ceiling, shifting slightly to get more comfortable on the bed, "But…I am glad you're okay…" He mumbled some, before looking at the ground. "If you weren't, I'd have a lot more than a stab wound to worry about…" He said, laughing some, knowing if he let her get hurt, he'd be burned like hell.

Her vision was off, but she pushed her dizziness aside and picked up the bowl, heading for the bathroom. At the door, she paused. "...You're welcome." She spoke softly, without turning around to look at him. She laughed softly at his comment, becoming aware that Mustang must have threatened him at some point to take care of her. It was embarrassing, but she appreciated the sentiment; it meant a lot that Roy cared, even if he almost never showed her himself.

Once in the bathroom, she shut the door behind her and began washing the bowl free of poison. Watching the swirling water she became more and more dizzy until...

She finally came out of the bathroom some time later. The bowl was clean, and she had had to spend several more minutes cleaning up after her own mess after her body had rejected the tiny amount of poison she had ingested when removing it from Edward's leg. She stumbled over to the bed slowly and sighed, pushing her bangs back out of her face with her right hand. Her face was pale, and she was trembling slightly, but it was nothing she thought should be worried over. She turned around and let herself fall backwards onto the bed, landing a few inches from Ed with her eyes closed. "I just need to sleep...just a little while... Then...we'll leave..." Her voice was barely above a whisper, and before she could even hear his reply, assuming he said anything, she was asleep.

Ed was about to say something to her until she passed out. He blinked a few times and smiled some, before standing and limping over to the door.

He limped down the stairs, and then came back up a few minutes later with a couple glasses of water, setting one by her bedside. Then he sat down on the floor, shutting his eyes, leaning back some. His leg hurt a lot less, and he was quite thankful for that. He smiled softly, before opening his eyes to look at the ceiling.

After a moment of staring and thinking, he slowly stood and looked over to her. Edward brushed the hair out of her eyes almost instinctively, when suddenly his eyes widened. This action felt very familiar, and he suddenly recalled doing it before, and who he had done it to.

"L—Lizzy…?" He whispered softly, looking down at her. How could he have not noticed? He blushed even more. No wonder he started to feel like he liked her, or at least felt _something_ towards her beyond mere rivalry…he had a crush on Lizzy when they were younger…He felt really stupid now, he thought as he stared at the wall, his face beet-red.


	4. Chapter 4: The Mission Part Three

It was at least a couple of hours before Elizabeth awoke. She had mumbled in her sleep once or twice, and otherwise hardly moved or shifted except to turn over on her side. When she finally began to come around, her eyebrows knit and she made a soft sound. Then her eyes slowly opened, she blinked slowly, and looked around with a tired look still on her face. Feeling something in her hand, she looked down, confused and saw...sheet. She was just clutching at the sheets. Elizabeth sighed softly, and then sat up, rubbing her eyes. She stretched her arms high into the air as she worked out the kinks throughout her body. A couple of things popped and she winced and groaned, but got over it quickly.

Looking around slowly, she spotted the glass of water on her bedside table and grabbed it, lifting it to her lips. After taking several large gulps, she set the glass back down on the table and sighed with relief. After flopping down onto the bed on her back, she took another look around and spotted Ed. "Um...hey." She mumbled, blushing with embarrassment. She had not meant to just fall asleep like that, with him lying there, but she had not really had much of a choice. Her body had decided she needed the rest.

Ed was staring at the floor. "I know you figured it out a long time ago…Why didn't you tell me, Lizzy?" He softly whispered, looking back at her, his amber eyes locking onto her.

Elizabeth's eyes widened when he used her old nickname; so he had finally figured it out. She spent several moments opening and closing her mouth, then looking around nervously, trying to think of what to say. How was she supposed to explain herself? How was she supposed to tell him her reasoning for not saying anything to him sooner? She could have reminded him at any time, but she had chosen not to.

He tilted his head slightly, waiting for her response. Ed knew she knew, and it sort of bothered him no one had told him. He just didn't understand _why_ no one told him. He really thought he would never see her again, and after all these years he had almost given up on ever seeing her again. He slowly stood and walked over to her, glaring slightly. "I never thought I'd see you again…" He voiced, clenching his fists as he came closer and closer to her.

Guilt stung her chest when he said that. She had been afraid of the very same thing. When she had first run into him at Central shortly after being accepted into the military as a State Alchemist, deep down she had been thrilled. But when he did not recognize her, when he did not know her as she had known him, she thought he must have his reasons. Perhaps too much had happened, and she was not important enough. Maybe their friendship throughout their childhood and its importance had been one-sided, and she had been the only one to treasure it.

Whatever his reasoning, she had been happy just to be able to see him; even when they became rivals, as long as she could be close to him; that was fine. And perhaps it was better this way; if they did not remain close, and she never showed how important he was to her, her enemies would not harm him, his brother, or any of the people in Resembool she loved. Yet all this time she had not seen how selfish she had been; he _had_ cared, and he _had_ missed her, not knowing she had been right in front of him this whole time. She leaned back when he approached her with clenched fists, briefly worried that he was going to do something rash.

As soon as he was close enough, Edward leaned down and pressed his lips against hers very softly. He knew it was probably a dumb idea, and had done it without really thinking it through. Before she could do anything, he moved away from her and slowly limped to the door, opening it with the intention of leaving.

Elizabeth had been expecting him to yell at her, but this was more of a shock—that had been the last thing she expected him to do. Her eyes widened further and her cheeks flushed a deep shade of red. Before she even had a chance to react, however, he had pulled away and was actually trying to leave. She reacted quickly, jumping up from the bed and closing the distance between them completely. "Hold on!" She demanded, grabbing him by the wrist and pulling him back. She was aware of his leg, and careful not to pull him off balance, but even if she had, her next move would likely act to catch him.

Her arms both shot out and wrapped around his lower back, while she pressed her forehead into his chest. Before he could speak, she was going to say what she needed to. "I never thought I would see you again either, Ed... I was so happy when we first met in Central... But when you didn't recognize me, I guess I understood. And I didn't want to be a burden. Not to mention I didn't want there to be any favoritism; I wasn't about to let you go easy on me just because we were friends. And," She added, having guessed what one of the more upset looks on his face had meant. "I didn't tell Roy—anyone else. I kept it to myself because I wanted to keep you safe. What do you think the Homunculi would do if they knew we were childhood friends?" She tightened her grip around his waist gently, burying her face in his shoulder for a moment. This was such a nice, familiar feeling... She did not want it to end, but after a moment she pulled back and away from him slightly, glowering. "How could you just kiss me and run? Jerk." She grumbled, pouting softly as she locked her narrowed blue eyes onto his golden-brown ones.

The blonde blinked as she started to talk about all this, "Please, I still would have kicked your ass, Lizzy." He said smiling softly. "And sorry, but I thought you would hit me." He admitted with a sheepish laugh. "But, I'm not going to go easy on you; after all, you are still my rival, Steel Wing." He said, his golden optics looking into her eyes again a small smile on his lips. His leg did feel a lot better; every now and then there would be a small surge of pain but nothing bad.

Elizabeth tilted her head to the side, raising one of her eyebrows, while a playful smirk tugged at one corner of her lips. "You know that's a load of crap. Not to mention Al is too much of a little gentleman; he never would have let you." She said, and then laughed softly. Elizabeth stuck her tongue out at him playfully. "Sure, sure. Like _I_ would ever take it easy on _you, _Fullmetal." She smirked then, a very familiar smirk that greatly resembled one her cousin, Roy Mustang, often aimed at Edward when he was teasing the blond.

They would never know it, but their parents—their mothers in particular-had always half-joked their eldest children would get married one day. That or they would kill each other. It had been something the women had often discussed and laughed good-naturedly about while their children played together and with Winry Rockbell. It would seem a mother's insight was quite powerful and accurate…perhaps.

After a moment, the blond male's smile faded. "I'm sorry I didn't figure it out. It's just…so much had happened… I wasn't really focusing on my past, just trying to get Al's body back, nothing else really mattered to me…"Ed murmured.

Elizabeth's expression softened when he spoke again. Reaching up slowly and hesitantly, she touched the gloved fingertips of her left hand to his face gently and shook her head. "I thought of that. I heard...about what happened... I'm sorry... You had your little brother to look out for, Ed, and you still have to take care of him. You have way too much on your plate right now. That's why I didn't tell you then, and it's why nothing needs to change between us now." Stepping back, she removed her hand from his face, and with her right hand, she gently punched his left shoulder. "Come on, we should get moving, right?" She reminded him, grinning brightly.

Things would carry on between the two of them as normal. Perhaps that kiss was an accident, or something he had done "in the moment." She would think almost nothing of it. They had always been friends, more recently rivals, and now they were both aware of it and on the same page. Nothing would change, and it was a relief to both of them to see that now, even if they did not say so out loud.

Besides, Elizabeth thought, with everything Ed was still likely to go through to fix himself and his brother, he did not need to worry about the things she had gone through, and everything she had lost. She would never admit it to him because she refused to admit it to herself, but she was...perhaps jealous of him. He still had his brother, and she had lost her entire immediate family...

Edward looked like he was about to say something, still blocking the doorway. But before he could, a blade stabbed through his stomach from behind. There was heavy breathing from behind him and golden optics held the angriest expression anyone had likely ever seen the blond with. "Get away from her…!" Ed hissed. His flesh arm was barely moving, and there was blood dripping down his finger tips. His sides were badly bruised, beaten, and bloody, and his shirt was ripped up. The knife wound on his leg was still there, and his hair was undone and in his face.

Elizabeth spun around, eyes wide with shock and anger when she heard the sound of a blade cutting through flesh. But when, for a few seconds, she saw two Edward Elrics, that look turned to one of confusion. She knew right away one of them had to be Envy, but the question became which one?

Ed clapped his hand s together and slammed them onto the ground. He coughed up a small amount of blood as concrete move up around the imposter's ankles. The one nearest to Elizabeth smirked. "Now now, Fullmetal how did you manage to get out?" He said before shifting back to Envy blood trickling out of his own mouth.

Edward was in bad shape, but he didn't care. "You son of a—" He hissed, glaring, his bangs shadowing his eyes. He brought his arm around and moved to cut him but as he knew he would, he missed. Envy had escaped and dodged back standing in the door staring at the two Alchemists, smiling slightly.

Her question was answered when the one which had been in the room with her this whole time changed into the Homunculus. Her stomach churned, and she felt sick again. She had basically just given up all of her weaknesses to that monster, including one of her greatest ones: Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist himself. The other reason she felt sick was the fact Ed had been fighting alone while she had slept, and he was hurt pretty badly now. She turned to glare at the Homunculus with violent anger in her eyes when it spoke, mocking her friend. Then, to add insult to his literal injuries, the creature was escaping again.

"I don't think so!" She snapped as she clapped her hands together and slammed them into the floor. The doorway shifted and changed, closing itself up to form a wall through which there would be no escape. She stood between Ed and Envy, standing in a protective stance. She was ready to beat the monster into submission, but she would protect Edward and keep him from getting hurt any further at any and all cost. "It's my turn. I'm your opponent now, you bastard!" She hissed. Envy had made a huge mistake; that monster had harmed the wrong boy.

Envy glanced behind him and smirked slightly. "Oh, Lizzy, I really don't think that's fair." He said before getting into his own fighting stance.

The Steel Wing Alchemist gritted her teeth and glared even more intensely, if that were possible. How dare that monster use her nickname, the one her best friend(s) had given her! Elizabeth clapped her hands together, and then drew her flesh hand across her automail one. Underneath the bright, blue light, her automail turned into a blade nearly identical to the one Fullmetal used. Honestly, she had borrowed the idea from him; it was convenient and practical, so why the heck not?

"But I suppose if you insist, I'm not one to turn down beating you two into a pulp." A wicked grin spread on the Homunculus's face. His eyes locked onto Elizabeth before shifting to Edward.

The Fullmetal Alchemist blinked a few times and glared at Envy. The blade was still on his arm, and despite the fact that he could barely lift his flesh arm, he was in an extreme amount of pain, and he was bleeding and in pretty bad shape, he didn't seem to care. He wanted to kill Envy for ever touching, no…looking at Elizabeth. He had heard most of their conversation; after all it took a lot of time to get up the stairs. His golden optics locked onto Envy; he knew he shouldn't fight, but he had to, he couldn't just stand here! Now that he knew who she really was he knew he had to protect Elizabeth. Not just because if he didn't he would get burned, but because he knew how much he cared about her, and he wouldn't let Envy take that from him.

The raven-haired girl held out her flesh arm to block Edward and Envy alike. "Stay out of this, Fullmetal. I said it's my turn to fight this bastard, and I meant it." Her tone was positively frigid when she spoke, but the icy anger was obviously directed at the Homunculus.

Ed blinked a couple times, and then he simply nodded before looking away. He knew she could take care of herself, he had no doubts in his mind about that, but he was still worried about her.

She did not know if the blond Alchemist had heard the personal things she had divulged, but that would be sorted out later. Now she wanted nothing more than to pound this creature before them into the ground. "You're going to pay for everything, Envy!" She cried angrily, and then lunged at her target. By "everything," yes, she was referring to how it had just managed to trick her into giving up very personal information. Not to mention it had kissed her while making her believe she was being kissed by one of the closest people to her. And to top it all off, Envy had severely wounded one of her dearest friends.

Elizabeth swung her blade at the Homunculus, aiming for his already-wounded stomach, then, whether she hit or not, swung upwards, aiming for its shoulder. She would continue her assault, seemingly slashing wildly and at random, not stopping for a second. She knew how fast Envy was, so she knew she would have to keep moving as fast as she possibly could, and continue to aim for any part she could reach until she actually managed to land a hit. Her attacks were downright relentless; there would be no playing fair on her part for the time-being, especially not when she was so angry.

Envy managed to dodge most of her attacks. With how angry she was, he knew there was no way he'd have time to actually hit her at all. He also knew his only line of escape was hurting Edward past the point he already was so Elizabeth would have to stop going after him in order to go aid Fullmetal, or just trying to get to the window with an angry female slashing at him with ridiculous speeds. After he weighed his options, he smirked before dodging behind her, jumping into the air and kicking the already-wounded blond Alchemist in the stomach, who, in turn, doubled over and coughed up blood, shutting his eyes in pain.

Elizabeth turned on her heel when Envy managed to get behind her, ready to stab him anywhere she could reach, even if it meant stabbing him in the back. It was dishonorable, but she obviously did not care about honor and fairness right now. If she could create flames like her cousin, the Homunculus would have been lit on fire the instant she saw it kick Edward in the stomach. Still, her rage was burning in her eyes and somewhat blinding her.

Edward knew Envy was getting desperate, he could tell by the look in his eyes that with Elizabeth being like this Envy was afraid for his own life. Jumping back and toward the window he smirked some; he was wounded from Ed's initial attack, plus quite a few of Elizabeth's relentless slashing had hit him; he knew when he was defeated. He sat on the window sill and smirked. "Until we meet again Fullmetal Pipsqueak, Lizzy…" He grinned wickedly before falling out the window, easily landing on his feet and transforming into a random civilian in order to disappear into the crowd.

Elizabeth's first instinct was to continue chasing the monster, and only the flash of an image of Fullmetal's face in her mind made her grab the window sill and stop herself from jumping out of it after Envy. She looked around trying to pick the fake out of the crowd, but it was no use. Elizabeth growled, then leaned out the window and screamed "DAMN YOU, ENVY! I'LL FIND YOU, YOU COWARDLY BASTARD!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. Even if people stopped and stared, or tried to find the source of the sudden outburst, she did not care, and quickly retreated back into the hotel room. The monster had fled and that was something; she had it running scared, and doubted it would be stupid enough to come after them anytime soon. At least, she hoped they would be safe for a while...

Ed was glaring after Envy, until his golden optics looked over to Elizabeth. He was still bleeding pretty badly but despite all this he slowly stood, walked over to her. He wiped the blood from his lip onto what was left of his sleeve before grabbing her by the wrist. "I'm glad you're safe—" He stopped and fell to his knees, coughing up more blood as his eyes closed tightly as though attempting to shut out the pain.

Now that Envy was gone and no longer a threat to them for the present moment, her priorities instantly shifted. Ed was her only concern "Fullmetal, try not to move—"Her eyes widened when he stopped speaking and fell, coughing up blood, and she was on her knees in an instant. "Edward!" She cried, panic coloring her lovely features. She grabbed him by the shoulders in an attempt to help hold him up. She was trying to keep it together, knowing that panicking was not going to help him, but seeing him like this, it was hard not to.

"Ed, try not to speak..." She said softly, then grabbed his wrist and pulled his arm around her shoulders again. Standing slowly, bearing his weight on her own as well as she could, she tried to encourage him to walk. "We need to get you to a hospital." She murmured, reaching out and touching her wall with the hand that was not around Edward's lower back. Once the doorway had reappeared and the room was put back in order, she half ripped it open in her hurry to get him out of there and get him help.

Ed shook his head slightly. "What we need to do…as much as I hate the idea of it, is call Mustang…"He whispered, his voice was really quiet. He slowly walked beside her; he was just happy Envy didn't break his automail so he didn't have to deal with the wrath of Winry as well as the pain he was in. He looked up to her and nodded slightly. He knew he needed to go to the hospital as well, he was in a lot of pain after all, plus he was starting to get dizzy from the massive blood loss he was suffering. To be honest, he wasn't all that sure how he was still conscious. Walking beside her, he cringed and inhaled sharply at almost every step they took.

Elizabeth nodded; she was reluctant, but she knew he was right. She was going to have to call her cousin. But first things first: they needed to get Edward to a hospital. She was as cautious as possible when she guided him down the stairs, biting her lip every time he winced or made a sound to indicate he was in pain. She could tell he was slipping as they entered the lobby because he was becoming heavier and heavier. "We're almost there..." She whispered.

The second they were in the lobby, one of the guests glanced up and gasped which made the actual personnel look up and hurry over to the two of them. "Sit him down; we'll call the hospital to come get him. He's pretty pale and probably shouldn't be walking."

Ed just glared at them. "No one asked you." He hissed. He didn't trust anyone, not after what had happened before, no one except the girl helping him walk, if that was what whatever he was doing was called.

Her grip on him tightened slightly when they were approached by the hotel personnel. She too was feeling somewhat paranoid, afraid that any one of these people could be Envy in disguise. At the same time, she was still fairly certain they had succeeded in scaring it off for a while. As she glanced at her friend when they pointed out how pale he looked, however, her stomach flipped and her chest felt heavy and she knew they had a point. "Ed, they're right..." She murmured gently in his ear, then turned and stared the nearest hotel staff member dead in the eyes. "Go call the hospital. And tell them to hurry, please."

Then she led him to a sofa and helped him sit before she took a seat on the left side so her right, flesh leg was closer to him. Elizabeth reached out to help him lie down. "Come on...You need to rest. I won't go anywhere." She smiled softly, blushing faintly. Then her expression turned a little more serious and she leaned closer to him. "Don't worry—I'm still on the lookout for Envy." She whispered.

Ed glanced over to her and sighed; he knew she was right but he was still not trusting. But he slowly nodded, finally conceding. "Thanks…" And at last he relaxed. He gently reached his metal hand over, since it was the only one he could move, and grabbed her hand, smiling before shutting his eyes and passing out. He was in a lot of pain, plus all the blood he had lost; he wasn't moving-still breathing, but barely.

Elizabeth blushed when Edward grabbed her hand, taking his automail hand in both of hers and squeezing it gently. "Anytime..." She murmured, watching his face closely as he closed his eyes. She felt him go limp when he passed out, and she squeezed his hand a little tighter and grit her teeth, beginning to tremble. She had to hold herself together just a little while longer, but it was so much more difficult when he was no longer conscious. Still, she had to stay strong for him, even if he could not see her.

When the paramedics arrived, she was unable to stand, but they were lead to the two State Alchemists anyway. They loaded him onto a stretcher quickly. "Are you joining him in the back?" One asked Elizabeth, tilting his head. It was a pointless question, really, though they may not have known it; she was not about to willingly leave his side any time soon. When she nodded, he returned with a nod of acknowledgement, and then resumed doing his job, starting to get fluids back into Ed's body. She followed them into the back of the ambulance, still holding Edward's hand.

It was a short drive. When they got him to the hospital, Edward was taken immediately into surgery. He was still unconscious from the blood loss, but even so they put him on anesthesia to be safe.

Elizabeth was reluctant to let go of him and leave him, but when they arrived at the hospital, she was held back by a few nurses. She was very close to fighting them, but she knew the doctors needed her out of their way in order to do their job properly. The dark-haired girl stood in the hall for several moments, pacing as her eyes darted over every inch of the bright white walls and floors and chairs and—finally, she could not be alone with her thoughts anymore. She was about to lose it, and she needed someone with her. She found the nearest telephone, and dialed...

* * *

Roy was relaxing in his chair in his office. A small yawn escaped his lips, before he leaned back, shutting his eyes. It was so boring; why wasn't anyone here? He glanced out the window, and watched a few birds fly by before slamming his head onto the desk. "Ugh…"

* * *

It took some time because she used a secure military line instead of a more open one, but Lizzy finally got through to her cousin, Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist.

* * *

Roy blinked a few times as he heard his phone ring, but he quickly picked it up, "Mustang—"

As soon as Elizabeth heard his voice, hers cracked, but she managed to swallow the lump in her throat and speak, though her voice trembled like the rest of her. "Roy," She dropped the formalities; she did not care, it was just her and her brotherly relative. "I need you. Please, come right away." She had to swallow again to rid herself of the tears threatening to spill. Elizabeth had not even called when she had lost her entire family. She had barely managed being alone when the last of her siblings had passed—obviously, she had snapped and performed the ultimate taboo. There was no way she could be alone now, not when she thought she might lose one of her best friends.

He stopped when he heard Elizabeth's voice. "What happened?" He said in complete seriousness. He had a feeling she was fine; if she wasn't she wouldn't be calling from right now. Well, she was at least physically fine…

Elizabeth shook her head before she answered, shaking the horribly painful memories from her head, focusing on the moment. Edward was in surgery, and he was going to be fine; Roy was on the phone, and she knew he would be there as quickly as he possibly could. "Ed-F-Fullmetal is hurt..." She murmured shakily. She did not even think to mention that she was perfectly fine, at least physically, because her sole focus was on Edward. Her personal health and safety, and reassuring Roy they were still intact, were some of the furthest things from her mind.

Roy nodded slightly. "I'll be there as soon as I can, Elizabeth…" He whispered. "I promise." He said before slowly hanging up.

"Hawkeye!" He called, grabbing his coat and his gloves before walking out of his office "We're going on a trip." He stated before walking out of his office and towards Central's train station. He had a look on his face, one that said no one should stop him…no one. He walked into the nearest car after purchasing their tickets, sitting down and staring forward, waiting for his Lieutenant to join him. Then he turned and stared out the window, completely silent.

Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye had heard the concern in Colonel Roy Mustang's voice when he spoke to whoever was on the other end of that phone call. It took less than a second to figure out he was speaking to his cousin, Elizabeth Leone. As soon as he was off the phone, she stiffened; she was already ready to go at a moment's notice. "Yes sir!" She was right behind him all the way down to the car, closing the door behind him. She was right on his heel up until they took their seats on the train as well. Once on the train, she sat in respective silence with her commanding officer. No questions asked; she knew when to speak and when it was best to be silent. Not to mention comforting him right now would be downright useless since they did not yet know the exact condition of the youths they were on their way to meet.

* * *

As soon as her family member spoke, and reassured her, even promised her he would be there as soon as possible, Elizabeth's trembling lessened. Her tense shoulders went slack, and then she nodded. "O-okay...See you soon." She muttered weakly, and then hung up as well.

She returned to the hall outside the room Fullmetal was in and dropped into the closest chair to the door. Her shoulders slumped and she fell back against the wall, dropping her head back and closing her eyes. Then she leaned forward, balling her left hand into a fist and wrapping her right hand around it. She raised her hands to lean her forehead against them, placing her elbows on her knees, and there she stayed for the next several hours. She was awake, but anyone who looked at her who did not know her might think she was asleep, unconscious, or generally unaware. But if they bothered to spare a moment to look at her, they would likely notice her shoulders trembling—fortunately, no one did.


	5. Chapter 5: Returning to Central

Roy stayed completely silent for the whole trip, just staring out the window. His thoughts were running all over the place; if Edward was really badly injured, it would be on his head. Not to mention if Elizabeth was hurt at all, he would never forgive himself. He was not sure he would forgive himself depending on the condition Edward was in… And all the paperwork he would have to do. He sighed.

Riza remained silent for the duration of the train ride as well, sitting straight in her seat, keeping her eyes forward. Occasionally she would glance at her superior, considering saying something, but nothing she thought of seemed appropriate or helpful enough, so she simply kept it to herself. The Lieutenant was able to sink into her own thoughts, worrying about Elizabeth and Edward, praying they were fine, or soon would be. Sometimes she would fear the worst had happened, but she was certain whatever was wrong could be overcome. Otherwise this would be a much different atmosphere, and Mustang surely would have said something, so she pushed those fearful thoughts from her mind.

* * *

The second the train stopped, Mustang got off; he didn't even bother waiting for his turn-he literally almost barged through in front of them. His subordinates were hurt, and his cousin was close to tears, he wasn't about to just sit and wait like a normal civilian.

The blonde Lieutenant stayed right behind her Colonel, excusing them as he barged through, but not trying to stop him or slow him down. He was in a hurry, and that was completely understandable; the civilians assumed it was some sort of military emergency, and though they were curious, they let the officers pass with relative ease.

* * *

They reached the hospital in a very short amount of time. Hawkeye asked the nearest nurse or doctor where the young State Alchemists were, and lead the way quickly. Otherwise she was fairly certain Mustang would have taken more time scouring every floor, not actually knowing where he was going. Well, that was part of what Hawkeye was there for. In a matter of minutes, they were staring down the hall at a girl who was obviously about ready to fall apart.

Roy stopped, staring at his cousin, hesitantly watching her for a moment. He had never seen her like this…would she really want him to be the one to comfort her? After all he wasn't there for her when she most needed him. He was afraid she would push him away. He glanced down and shook his head, pushing past his insecurities to try to convince himself to approach her anyway.

Riza took note of Mustang's hesitation, but without thinking she moved forward until she was standing in front of his young cousin. Instinct had taken over, whether it was motherly or sisterly did not matter, and without thinking she had beaten Roy to his cousin. She was about to hesitate and step aside for Roy to comfort her, since she was not entirely certain it was her place-though she had known this girl for most of the younger female's life.

But before she could move, the young raven-haired girl lifted her head. Elizabeth had heard footsteps approaching and was going to ignore them as she had for the past several hours, but when they stopped in front of her, she realized she recognized the heavy foot-fall. Lifting her head slowly, she looked up at the concerned face of Riza Hawkeye; she stood, managing a weak salute. "Hey there, Lieutenant..." She muttered weakly, her voice cracking.

The pained, worried look on the face of a young woman Elizabeth had always admired for her strength and ability to say stoic, directed at her, made her realize how pathetic or afraid or however she must have looked, and something inside her crumbled. Her smile vanished and tears built up in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks within seconds. Without thinking, she threw her arms around Hawkeye's waist and began to sob like a child into the front of the Lieutenant's jacket. She realized too late that Riza was bound to notice something unnatural about her left arm, but she almost did not care.

Hawkeye felt it alright, and for a second her eyes widened. But she pushed her thoughts, feelings and questions aside for a moment and just held the girl while the young Alchemist cried, hard.

The Colonel stared for a few minutes longer; she was okay…at least physically, but Edward was nowhere to be seen. He looked down his hair shadowing his eyes. This was his fault, and he knew it was, he never should have sent them alone… And despite the fact Roy treated Fullmetal the way he did he probably cared about him close to how much he cared about Elizabeth. Edward and his brother were like his own siblings. He shook his head and finally walked over to his cousin, gently placing a gloved hand on her head, before moving it down gently rubbing her back. "I'm sorry, Elizabeth…" He whispered softly. He had not been there for her again, and it really hurt him to see her like this.

The shocked look in Riza Hawkeye's eyes softened; the moment Roy touched her, she felt Elizabeth's body relax significantly, and much of her trembling stopped. She was still crying, but her sobs had begun to die down, and it was obvious her cousin's touch was even more relaxing even than hers.

Mustang glanced away before turning to leave to go find one of the doctors to ask about Fullmetal's condition. After all, Roy was male-he wasn't too good at the whole comforting thing…

He did not have to wander down the hall very far before finding a doctor, who turned and stopped dead in his tracks; generally someone that high up wasn't around this hospital so the doctor forced a smile. "What can I help you with, sir?" Roy raised a brow; something wasn't right about this at all… He looked the doctor up and down with his dark blue eyes. The man wasn't walking right. Roy's eyes narrowed slightly, before he grabbed the other male and dragged him outside, away from Riza and Elizabeth. There he threw him against a wall, his fingers together, read y to snap them in his anger. "Who the hell are you?" Roy hissed. He continued glaring, while the doctor just laughed and shook their head. Slipping from Mustang's grip without a word, the imposter simply left. Roy was too focused on his two sibling-like subordinates to care enough to go after this fake—not to mention he did not have enough proof that this doctor actually _was_ a fake.

Roy walked back into the hospital and went to find another doctor, a real one who could give him some answers regarding Edward's condition. After finding one, he let out a relieved sigh. "Edward Elric, how is he doing?" Roy inquired, staring at the doctor with midnight blue eyes.

The doctor nodded his head. "Better. He's quite injured, however; it will be quite some time before he can do anything. He's still in surgery."

Roy cursed under his breath before nodding in acknowledgement, and then turning and walking back toward his cousin and his Lieutenant.

* * *

When her cousin left, Elizabeth slowly lifted her head and looked after him down the hall. She was wondering where he was going, why he was leaving, but was too conflicted to call or go after him.

Riza could read all of this in her eyes as she looked down at the younger female and slowly stepped back. "Elizabeth?"

The girl being spoken to turned and looked at the female speaking as she began wiping her face clean with her sleeve. "I'm...I'm fine. I'm sorry, Lieutenant."

Hawkeye nodded her head, and then guided the girl back gently to sit her down in the chair again. Then she took the seat to the left of the young female Alchemist, and leaned forward so she could look Elizabeth in the eyes without kneeling in front of her and treating her like a child. "Elizabeth..." She was trying to think of what to say, or how to phrase her words gently; her voice had started off stern enough, however, that Mustang's raven-haired cousin knew where this discussion was headed.

"Yeah...my left arm and right leg," She murmured softly; there was shame in her eyes.

Hawkeye had suspected, but that look confirmed her fears and suspicions, and the blonde's heart sank. She had hoped she would not see the same look Edward often adopted when talking about, hinting at, or thinking about what had happened to him and his brother. But that look was all she needed to gain a general idea of what had happened. "Elizabeth, you know you're going to have to tell the Colonel."

Elizabeth lowered her head in shame and from the weight of knowing Riza was right. "I know...I've always known. But..." She clenched her left fist in front of her and curled her other hand around her automail hand tightly. So many thoughts were rushing through her head, she was uncertain of which one to voice first, or at all. "...I committed the ultimate taboo; not just in Alchemy, but as a _person_... I just...didn't know what else to do. I wasn't thinking, and I was a _stupid child!_ I thought I could play 'God'... Well," She laughed bitterly. "Obviously, 'He' had something else in mind. I paid for my naive foolishness." Then she shook her head; now was not the time. Edward was in surgery, and her thoughts kept falling on him and his condition.

Hawkeye reached out at placed her hand on Elizabeth's back gently. "You don't have to think about it right now; you have enough to worry about. But if you ever need to talk, I'm here..." She was about to add that Mustang was as well, but one, she was not certain about speaking for him, even when she knew it to be true; and two, the Colonel himself was approaching them from down the hall.

Hearing him coming, but too exhausted to lift her head, Elizabeth simply nodded. "Thanks..." She whispered, then quickly wiped at her eyes once more.

Roy approached them and smiled slightly before sitting beside his cousin. "Fullmetal will be fine." He said, and then looked up at the ceiling. He didn't say anything about the doctor he had run into; he didn't think it was important, at least not right now. The only thing he cared about was his cousin and Fullmetal right now. But as his gaze shifted to Elizabeth he sighed slightly. "You should sleep." He said smiling some. "I'll wake you when Edward is out of surgery." He had a feeling she wouldn't, but he had a look in his eyes, one of guilt; he really felt like this was his fault. He should not have sent these two on this mission alone, he should have sent someone else with them and maybe they would be okay, he glanced to the ground, leaning his elbows onto his knees, his hands folded below them staring at the ground. "Please, Elizabeth. Go relax…I promise you nothing will happen to Fullmetal while you're relaxing, I just know him, if he sees someone who was worrying about him, he won't rest, at all. So just…go."

Elizabeth lifted her head only enough to be able to glance at Roy out of the corner of her eye through the black hair falling around her face. When he spoke, though, she lifted her head and smiled weakly, letting out a breath she had not even realized she had been holding. She was visibly relieved to hear Edward would be fine, but she still looked exhausted. Still, she was afraid to sleep. The last time she had fallen asleep on Fullmetal, she had woken up with Envy beside her, disguised as Ed, and while she had been resting, he had been fighting. The last time she had fallen asleep, he had been hurt, and she was not about to let that happen again.

As Mustang may have predicted, she shook her head. "Thanks, but I'm fine." She grumbled stubbornly. "He was put in this condition the last time I '_rested._' I'm not going to let that happen again." Her eyes were heavy, it was obvious how badly she needed to sleep, or at least rest, but she was too stubborn or afraid.

Seeing this, hearing it since Elizabeth had her back to the blonde, Hawkeye spoke up with a stern tone in her voice. "What are you going to do then, not sleep?"

The Steel Wing Alchemist flinched at this undeniable logic, but she still did not turn around. She was perhaps a little afraid to face Hawkeye's wrath.

"May I suggest an alternative? Sir, why don't you go with her; you both look like you could use some rest. Meanwhile, I'll stay here and look after Edward. I give you the same promise: I will not let anything happen to Edward while you're _both_ resting." She was perhaps a little bold, but she was merely being her strict self. They were both stubborn, and this was bound to turn into a pointless argument if she did not speak up. Roy Mustang was likely correct when he said Edward would not be able to rest if he knew how worried others were about him. But Elizabeth was not the only one who would have a difficult time hiding how worried she was. Plus, if Roy did not show worry, Edward's next emotion was likely to be panic, wondering why the Colonel was hovering over him. And finally, Riza knew how much Elizabeth needed her family member right now—or rather, how badly they needed each other.

Roy was about to protest back when Hawkeye spoke up. Instead, he simply sighed and stood before walking towards a section of the hospital set aside as guests' quarters. He wasn't thrilled about it; he still felt horrible so he knew he would not be sleeping; not to mention he wasn't tired. But arguing with Hawkeye wasn't something the Colonel often did; he knew better, and he knew she had a point. So he trudged along until he found an empty room, entered, and laid down on one of the beds. There he stared at the ceiling, his bangs shadowing his eyes. How could he let this happen? He shook his head slightly before sighing.

Elizabeth also sighed and gave in to what Hawkeye was saying. She was very reluctant to leave Ed's side, or not be as close to him as possible, but arguing with Riza rarely went anywhere-especially when she was right. Standing slowly, she trudged down the hall behind Roy, hanging her head in defeat. At the end of the hall she paused and turned, looking over her shoulder back down the hall. Riza gave her a nod and a tiny, encouraging smile, which Elizabeth responded to with a smile full of thanks. Then she finally turned and left.

When they reached the room for guests and visitors, she took one of the beds near Roy's and fell onto it with a rather loud, exasperated sigh. There were so many thoughts running through her head, she doubted she was going to be able to sleep very well, if at all. One of her thoughts, or rather, ideas, nagged at her persistently until, with a sigh of defeat, she gave in to it. Standing from the bed, she began pushing, then tugging, then pushing at it until it was pushed up against the bed her cousin currently resided in. She blushed and shot him a wary look as she climbed onto her bed again.

"Shut up." She grumbled, even though he had not yet said anything, laid on her stomach, and reached out with her right hand to grab his sleeve. Then she slowly closed her eyes, looking much more relaxed. Suddenly one of her eyes opened as a thought occurred to her, and she glowered up at her cousin. "If you ever tell anyone about this or try to hold it over my head, I _will_ hurt you." She hissed. Then she closed her eye, and her eyes remained closed for the next few hours as she quickly fell asleep from her exhaustion. Though it was perhaps a childish move, Elizabeth looked far more peaceful as she slept...

Roy glanced over to her and smirked some. "I'd never dream of doing such a thing." He said before moving his other hand on top of her head, stroking her hair gently to help her sleep. He looked at the ceiling again and sighed softly, shutting his eyes as he did, just waiting to hear news of Fullmetal…

* * *

It was a few hours later before a doctor walked out, and looked to Riza. "I'm assuming you're here about Mr. Elric? He's right this way." The doctor then led her to the room Fullmetal was in. His arm and leg were bandaged beyond all hell, his left arm was also in a sling, his head was bandaged in a few places, as well as his chest and his side, he had a quite a few tubes leading into his body, one of oxygen, one for blood and the other for the pain medication he would desperately need when he awoke. His eyes were still shut. The doctor looked to Riza. "He'll be fine as long as he rests…a lot. We can arrange to get him moved closer to Central if that's what you want, or think would be best…Also, he'll probably be out for another hour or so…if you'd like to move him please tell one of the nurses, they will get it started." With that he turned and left.

Lieutenant Hawkeye stood when the doctor emerged from the operating room, eager to hear what he had to say about Edward's condition. After following the doctor to the blond boy's room, she was not exactly relieved to see his condition, but at least seeing him at all made her feel a bit better. She nodded as the doctor spoke. "I'll speak to Colonel Mustang and let him decide what's best." She murmured, and then nodded at the doctor's departure. Once she was alone with the young man, she sat in the chair beside his bed and let out a long sigh. "You're going to be fine, Edward. You have to be, for all of us. Especially for them..." She whispered, thinking of Alphonse, Roy and Elizabeth when she said "them." Those three would absolutely fall apart worst of all if he did not improve quickly.

* * *

Edward woke up about half an hour later. His eyes fluttered open and he looked around for a moment before glancing over to Hawkeye. "Lieutenant Hawkeye…when did you get here?" His voice was soft, and barely audible, but he managed to talk. He started sitting up but quickly thought against it as pain surged through his body and his nerves screamed against it.

Hawkeye had taken to looking around the room, and anyone who saw her might think she was bored and just looking for anything interesting to stare at. In reality, she was doing what she did almost anywhere she went, and was looking for weaknesses and strengths of the room. She had been able to guess how Fullmetal had been hurt, and why Elizabeth had been so jumpy and felt so guilty, so she was on high alert. No one was going to come into this room that was not welcome, and if anything happened, or anyone or anything was foolish enough to attack here, they would have Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye to deal with. She was not about to be caught off-guard.

She was resigned to sitting in silence for much longer, so it was a bit of a surprise when Edward awoke in just thirty minutes. She leaned towards him slightly when his eyes opened, alerting him to her presence without hovering over him and alarming him. "A little while ago." She informed him softly, not telling him just yet that he had been in surgery for several hours; the doctors could do that.

Ed glanced around the room again, blinking some as a thought struck him: "W-where's Lizzy? Is she okay? Don't tell me Envy got to her too…" He said, actually sitting up this time despite the pain. He was panicking, that was obvious; he was so afraid something had happened to her, he didn't care _how_ much he hurt right now.

Riza was glad to see him give up his attempt to sit up the first time, but frowned the second time. At last she stood up, holding out her hands to urge him to lie back down. "Calm down, Edward. Steel Wing is fine. She's resting in the visitors' quarters with the Colonel." She explained, letting him know subtly that his companion was not alone, and also informing him more gently that Mustang had come here with her. "She's safe." She added gently. "The doctor said you need to rest for a while. Now please, lie back down." She encouraged him softly.

Edward blinked a few times but slowly nodded and laid back down; he knew Riza wouldn't lie to him not matter what the reason, she had always been like that, Edward glanced away "You did tell Mustang not to beat himself up about this, right?" He grumbled; he knew the Flame Alchemist well enough to know that he would be beating himself up a lot for this whole thing, even if he never showed it. Fullmetal glanced over to the door again, and watching it closely…

Lieutenant Hawkeye smiled softly when Edward complied and lay back down. Once he was settled, she took her seat again. She maintained eye contact as she listened to him, then as she replied. "Would he have listened to me if I did?" She answered his question with another question. Then she sighed and added. "I'm afraid I must admit it was not at the forefront of my mind." She had to refrain from commenting about the calming effect Elizabeth had on Roy as well; she had to remind herself the blood-relation of the two was meant to be a secret. Not to mention, she strongly believed it was not her business to divulge such information.

"If you'd like, you could tell him when he comes in to check on you." She suggested, smiling her tiny, near-hidden smile again. It was unlikely Ed would take her up on it, but he had a point; if he did not say anything, she would likely need to give him a good talking to...That is, if Elizabeth had not already done so.

When one of the doctors walked in and started explaining everything that had happened, Ed didn't say anything, he just looked over to Riza, and softly said. "Did you guys tell Al yet?" He didn't even care about himself; he had always been like that when he was injured, his main concern was always his little brother, and now, Lizzy…and even sometimes the stubborn ass of the Colonel.

Hawkeye looked at the door as the doctor entered, then listened to him telling Fullmetal just about everything she already knew. When Edward turned to her again, her gaze shifted, then she shook her head. "No. Should we have told him while you were still unconscious?" She was sure he would rather call his younger brother himself. Not to mention she had not thought it a good idea to call Alphonse Elric when his older brother was in surgery and they did not yet have all the information. It would have only sent the younger Elric brother into a panic, and she had seen no point. Then she had not had a chance to find a telephone while Fullmetal was asleep and there was no one else to watch over him as she had promised the cousins down the hall she would. Now that he was awake, she thought, he could call his brother and reassure him personally that he was still alive.

He nodded, he knew that was the best idea, after all, Alphonse wouldn't want to just be sitting at home if he knew the condition Ed was in. He also knew that Mustang wouldn't listen to him at all…

* * *

Roy glanced over to Elizabeth, he had a feeling Ed was out of surgery by now, but part of him didn't want to wake his cousin; she looked so peaceful. Finally he sighed quietly and rubbed her back to wake her up. "Elizabeth…" He whispered, still rubbing her back. "We should go see if Fullmetal is out of surgery…" He said with a small smile.

Elizabeth stirred slowly, seeming reluctant to come out of whatever dream she had been having. She grumbled, and then murmured something under her breath in her sleep, something that sounded very much like the name "Ed…" Then she slowly opened her eyes, squinting as they adjusted to the bright lights in the room. She groaned, and then snapped awake in an instant when it finally registered in her mind that her cousin, Roy, was speaking, and then what he said. "Mm? Oh. Yeah, okay." She nodded, then sat up quickly but remained sitting on the edge of the bed for a moment, scratching her head and then running her fingers through her messy hair.

When Mustang saw a nurse wander by he stopped her and asked if Edward Elric was out of surgery. When she nodded, he stood and asked where the room was after being told he looked over to Elizabeth and smiled slightly. "Let's go." He said waiting for her reply.

She watched as Mustang spoke to the nurse in the hall, then nodded, jumping off the bed and hurrying after him. She was eager to see if Edward was awake and if he was alright.

Elizabeth was unable to stop herself from running the remaining few feet to the door of Edward's room as soon as she saw it ahead of them. She reached out and grabbed the door handle, twisting it and pushing it open much more slowly.

* * *

Edward was still lying in the bed staring at the wall opposite of the Lieutenant. He was still pretty tired, and in a lot of pain. How could he let Envy sneak up on him in the first place, he kept wondering?

Riza Hawkeye was quiet for several minutes, continuing to scan the room. She spotted a telephone with a long cord on the wall Edward was staring at-though she could tell he was not looking at the phone at all-and noted it for future reference. When he was ready, she could and would fetch it for him so he could call his younger brother. She was about to speak, intending to ask Fullmetal what had happened, but when she heard Mustang and Elizabeth's familiar footsteps approaching out in the hall, she decided against it. The Colonel would very likely want the same information, so all her questions and concerns would be answered and dealt with soon enough.

The blond male was still staring at the wall when he heard familiar footsteps. He glanced over at the door and smiled some when his childhood friend came into the room. "Lizzy..." He spoke her name softly, before his eyes shifted to Mustang. "You know this isn't your fault-"

Elizabeth stuck her head in, and then the rest of her followed quickly when she saw Ed awake and smiling at her. She left the door open for her cousin to follow her into the room as she closed the distance between her and her friend's bed. She smiled down at him with a look of happiness and relief in her eyes; she may not have been aware of it, but seeing that look made Lieutenant Hawkeye quirk a brow questioningly. Something had obviously happened between these two young Alchemists, and recently since they had done nothing but bicker whenever they saw one another since they had first met after joining the military.

"Enough," Mustang silence Ed's attempts at consoling him as he walked over to the boy's hospital bed. "What happened?" He asked, now standing beside his bed, his blue eyes locked onto Edward with a look of anger and protectiveness.

Fullmetal blinked a few times and nodded some; he knew the second Roy was here he would want to know. "I was downstairs getting Li-Elizabeth water, when one of the staff members asked for my help…I wasn't thinking straight; my leg still hurt from Envy's earlier attack, so…I went to help them. The next thing I know I'm getting my ass kicked by Envy and I'm knocked out in some back room." He said before glancing over to Lizzy, then back to Roy. "When I came to, I knew he was going to try to do something to Steel Wing, so I managed to get up stairs and stab him…" He mumbled, before his eyes shifted down to his hands, tightening them.

Roy just nodded, he didn't say anything; he then turned and left the room, going to find one of the doctors. He returned a while later. "We're moving you to Central." He said before looking at Hawkeye. "I'm assuming you won't mind guarding Steel Wing. I'm putting someone outside of your room at all times as well Fullmetal. If the Homunculi are after you two, I'm not taking any chances."

Hawkeye was attentive while Edward told the Colonel what had happened.

For Elizabeth, he was just filling in the blanks, and the more she heard, the more she felt her anger towards the Homunculus building in her chest. She clenched her fists at her sides and glared at the floor the whole time he spoke. When Roy left to find a doctor, Elizabeth sat on the edge of Edward's bed, but she still could not bring herself to look him in the eyes. While Mustang may have thought this was his fault, she blamed only the Homunculus and herself for not being awake to help her friend.

She lifted her head and jumped off the bed quickly when Roy came back into the room, suddenly very stiff.

Again, Hawkeye had to hide a questioning look. The Lieutenant stood and saluted when Mustang gave her an order, however indirect it may have been. "Yes sir." She replied with a nod.

"Shouldn't we stay in one room?" Elizabeth suddenly blurted out without thinking. When she felt Riza's eyes on her, likely accompanied by every other pair of eyes in the room, she felt her face heat up. "I just mean...it would be much safer if we stick together. If Envy or any of the Homunculi are going to attempt to sneak up on us, wouldn't we just be making it easier on them by splitting up?" She had a valid point, but her intentions were not entirely as pure or simple as that...

Mustang looked over to his cousin, with a weird look on his face. "I suppose so, but I really didn't think you'd want to be around Fullmetal that much, since all you two do is bicker. Besides that, Fullmetal will be in the hospital for at least another month, because I know if they release him he'll be stupid and reckless." He said, pointedly glaring over to Ed who just forced a grin; he really hated how well the Colonel knew him.

Elizabeth looked away quickly; she had not thought about that. She had really only meant staying in the same room until he had been safely moved to Central. But her cousin had a point about staying in the same place for the next month while Fullmetal recovered-realistically, that was not going to happen.

She glanced at Edward when Mustang mentioned him being reckless, and she glared at the blond boy somewhat as well. His recklessness was part of what had landed him in the hospital in the first place. She wished he would not have tried to take care of her...those thoughts lead back to the sinking feeling of guilt in her chest. "Yeah, well...at least until we get back to Central." She mumbled, looking into Ed's eyes for a second.

Roy then looked over to Hawkeye, and then back to the two young Alchemists. "I really don't care what you do, but no matter where either of you go, you're going to have someone with you." He demanded; he knew it was being overprotective, but with how bad of shape Ed was in, he was not about to take any chances. He blamed himself for this more than any of them knew.

Edward just nodded in compliance; he wasn't in any shape to argue with Mustang, nor did he really care to. Slowly his right automail arm placed his hand over Elizabeth's, knowing Roy couldn't see it, and even if he did, at this point, Ed really did not care.

Even though her left hand was made of automail she could still feel the boy's hand of the same material when it touched hers. In the back of her mind, it made her thankful to the Rockbells for being so skilled at making automail that she was still able to feel, at least for the most part. Her deep blue gaze left those golden eyes after a second, though, when she turned to look at her cousin, Roy. "Okay, okay, _sir._ I get it—'No going anywhere without a babysitter.'" She sounded bitter, but deep down she knew he was just trying to protect her.

"You're damn right." Roy stated; he knew she was pissed off about it, but he did not care. When he heard groaning he looked over to Ed and blinked. "What are you doing?" He asked, raising a brow.

Fullmetal glared now. "I'm going to slap it into you that it's not your fault! I know that look Mustang, all of us here do. It's not like you knew Envy was going to attack us, so stop beating yourself up for something that isn't your fault!"

Elizabeth clenched her jaw slightly to keep her mouth shut and prevent herself from saying anything snappy. Of course he had his reasons, but it pissed her off even more when he was smug about her complying with his wishes. Her deep blue gaze turned on Fullmetal when he groaned; she was surprised and a little caught off-guard when he started calling Roy on his thoughts as he did. She had not been sure anyone but her would ever have the guts to talk to the higher-ranking officer like that. Sure, Hawkeye gave Mustang her lectures every now and then, but she would never blatantly call him out or put him on the spot like that. Elizabeth let out a low whistle, and then quickly looked away so she would not see any look her cousin may or may not have shot in her direction.

Mustang just stared at Edward and pointedly ignored his cousin; he knew he was right but he wasn't about to admit that, at least to Fullmetal. "Lie back down and stop moving." He said before turning away, his hands behind his back staring at the door, just thinking.

When Steel Wing heard him turn around, she glanced back at Roy and tilted her head slightly. She hoped that was just the verbal kick in the rear he had required to stop blaming himself for what had happened between them and Envy.

It wasn't too much longer before some of the doctors and nurses came in starting to move Edward to one of the mobile beds to transfer him to Central. Hawkeye stood to get out of their way, but watched their every move like a hawk.

While the raven-haired girl had a second and when she was certain no one was looking, she looked at Edward again and smiled softly, leaning closer to him. "Thank you." She whispered in his ear, low enough so only he could hear her. Then she squeezed his hand gently before slipping it out of his grasp and stepping away from the bed as well so it could be wheeled out of the room with Ed in it.

Once they had everything in order, they started to wheel him to the ambulance that would take him there. Before they left the room, the doctor glanced back. "Which one of you is riding with him?"

Without a second thought, Steel Wing immediately looked at her cousin, hoping he would allow her to go. She did not realize just how much she was begging him with her eyes.

Roy looked over to Elizabeth; he knew that look. "Steel wing, you are, Hawkeye and I will meet you two at the hospital." With that he turned on his heel and started walking back to the train station.

She was relieved when he did just as she had hoped and allowed her to go with Edward. "Colonel," She had to stop herself from almost accidentally calling him "Roy" as she called after him. "Thanks." She said softly, and then gave him a casual salute before turning to follow after the team of doctors and nurses. "See you in Central, sirs!" She called over her shoulder, before trotting after the group in order to walk as close to Ed's bedside as she could get.

Ed glanced over to Elizabeth as soon as she was beside him again, his only working hand grabbing hers, as he smiled slightly. "That was weird, right? I mean…Mustang telling you to ride with me?" He asked with a cute, confused look on his face. He was still hurting, but less so now that the pain meds were kicking in. His blonde hair was in his face slightly but he really didn't care as he stared up at her with a small smile. He pulled her down by her arm and sat up gently kissing her cheek again. "That's for helping me so much…Lizzy." He said softly.

Elizabeth looked down at Edward when she felt his hand grab hers, and then squeezed it gently. A soft smile tugged at the corner of her lips, but that quickly changed into a nervous grin and a laugh. "Yeah; weird. That was definitely weird." She had a very powerful urge to tell him about her relation to the Colonel, but before she could form thoughts or words beyond that, she was caught off-guard by his next move. She stumbled slightly and nearly fell into his lips as he sat up to kiss her. She only just had time to turn her head and close her eyes for a second before he had pulled away and she was once again gazing into his warm, golden eyes. "Any...any time, Ed." She murmured, feeling her cheeks heating up again; she could feel her heart warming as well. Her mind had gone blank, and she almost completely forgot what she had been thinking before he kissed her.

* * *

Roy sighed and his eyes shut as he walked to the train and took his seat. He then opened his eyes and looked at Hawkeye, before starting to talk. "It's not just me…that they seem closer all of a sudden? As though not constantly wanting to kill each other happened over night? That's weird right? Am I missing something? I feel like I'm missing something…" He knew he was kind of rambling, but that was sometimes what he did when he was worried…and confused.

Riza Hawkeye followed close behind Mustang, boarding the train right behind him and taking the seat across from him. She sat upright as always, glancing out the window before turning to look at her higher-up as he spoke. She gave him a questioning look, which soon turned into a knowing one. The Lieutenant had her own suspicions about what was going on between the two of them, but she would not make too many assumptions without first talking to one of the two young ones involved. Or until they-most likely Elizabeth-came to her and told her personally.

So for the time-being, she would merely give some vague advice, and make a suggestion, as per usual. "Sir, surely something must have happened between the two of them while they were away. It's to be expected, especially if they fought that Homunculus together. Perhaps you should talk to Steel Wing or Fullmetal, rather than thinking in circles, sir?" It was not getting him anywhere, and was likely only confusing him more. It was not entirely unlike him to be so oblivious, especially when Elizabeth was involved, but seeing him so confused and showing it like this was a little odd.

Roy sighed. He knew that, and he knew he was not normally like this, but Fullmetal was hurt, badly, and Elizabeth was beating herself up because of it. The Flame Alchemist just sighed again and nodded. He knew she was right: he should just talk to one of them. At least once he finished all the damn paperwork he had to do.

* * *

Ed smiled slightly and shut his eyes; he was tired, not just from the drugs, but from the generally exhausting day he had had as well. He started to fall asleep again but he was trying to fight it off, his automail hand still gripping hers. He was really tired, and he knew he should sleep, he just couldn't; not yet…He did not want to.

Elizabeth never let go of Ed's hand during the entire ride to Central. She tried to coax him to sleep, but he seemed insistent on fighting off his body's obvious need to.

The ambulance beat the train to Central, and the nurses there got him out and into a private room quickly. It was not long after before Ed could not fight off how tired he was anymore. Finally his golden eyes shut and he passed out.

Once he had been settled into his hospital room in Central, the raven-haired girl watched as Ed slowly lost his fight with sleep. After his eyes had closed and she was sure he was out like a light, before the guard was posted and there were eyes everywhere, watching and interrupting the moment she was lost in, she took the opportunity to sit on the edge of his bed.

The doctors and nurses were too busy bustling about, getting him settled, none of them would have bothered or cared to stop and fuss with the two young Alchemists. So while the moment was still theirs, Elizabeth leaned forward slowly and laid a gentle kiss on Edward's forehead, careful to avoid any of his wounds. Then, after losing herself looking over his face, thankful for the more peaceful expression upon it now that he was sleeping, she leaned forward again. This time, her lips touched his cheek gently for a moment before she pulled away. He had kissed her twice now, it was only fair she return the favor...even if he_ was_ asleep and could not exactly feel, enjoy, or reciprocate it. "Rest now, Ed... Sweet dreams." She whispered with a gentle, happy smile on her lips and shining in her eyes. In fact, her whole being seemed to glow as she stood slowly and left Fullmetal's hospital room-only, of course, once she was certain he was safe and fully guarded.

Even though he was asleep, the blond gently nodded as she spoke her words, even in his sleep he was hearing her speak, he had cared about her for so long and felt some connection to her but he could never place his finger on it…and finally, he thought, he had.


	6. Chapter 6: A Secret RevealedA Girl Lost

A month passed slowly, and Edward was released from the hospital. He was still hurting and still wounded, just not as bad. He had new scars to add to his already scarred body but he did not much care. He slipped on his red overcoat, finally ready to leave his hospital room. Then he slowly made his way to Central Headquarters. After all, he was no longer on constant pain killers, and Mustang wanted a detailed report of what had happened that day, and if they had any idea what the Homunculi were after. As the blond walked, his younger brother walked beside him, relieved to know his brother would be okay; after all he had had a break down hearing what condition Ed was in a month ago. Edward sighed and ruffled his bangs. He was still limping, favoring his flesh leg over his metal one. His golden hues glanced toward the sky, a gentle smile on his lips. It was nice to finally be free, for the most part.

* * *

It had been a month since one of her best friends had been hospitalized, and Elizabeth had not been to see him since the day he had been moved to the hospital in Central. She had tried several times, and thought about it even more, but had not been able to muster up the courage to actually do so. Anytime she had gone to the hospital, she had an escort with her, asking where she was going and why, and she was certain the guards posted inside and outside of his room would be asking similar questions. In the end, she always chickened out and left, until finally she gave up.

It was a relief to hear he was being released, but at the same time she felt guilty for not going to see him while he had been there. The great Steel Wing Alchemist was afraid of a little embarrassment, was how it looked. A loud sigh escaped the raven-haired girl's lips and she ruffled her hair in frustration as she sat on the end of the bed in her hotel room. That was something else she had changed soon after Fullmetal had wound up in the hospital: she had moved from staying with her cousin to staying in a military hotel. She still went to see him to be certain he was not drinking or beating himself up over what had happened, but there were too many things she was too afraid to risk being confronted by.

There was the matter of her automail limbs she still had not had the heart or "opportunity" to bring up to him, and now there was the sudden change in the relationship between her and Edward. As she stood and walked into the bathroom, grabbing her clothes so she could shower and dress for the day, another long sigh escaped her. Once she was cleaned, dressed, and had finished getting ready for the day, she tugged on her gloves as a last touch and as the last thing to conceal her shame which had been made into a literal part of her. Then she left, locking up before heading downstairs and out of the hotel. Fullmetal was being released today, and they had to deliver a report to Mustang personally. She had not forgotten a single detail, and thinking about it now, she was seriously considering leaving out the part about Envy kissing her...

* * *

Finally standing outside Roy Mustang's office, Elizabeth let out one final sigh before knocking.

"Come in." Roy's voice echoed out.

Steel Wing groaned softly under her breath; some part of her had been hoping maybe he wouldn't hear her knock, or he wouldn't be there, or any number of things to avoid having to go in there. But he had invited her in, and she knew she could not delay the inevitable any longer. She reached out and grabbed the doorknob, turned it, and pushed the door open slowly, poking her head in. Then the rest of her body followed, and she paused in front of the closed door for a moment to assess the situation.

Edward was already sitting on the couch, his legs on the table and his arms draped over the back, as he always sat in Mustang's office. He was still hurting some, but nothing too bad; he glanced over and smiled slightly as Elizabeth walked in. "I'm injured, and I can still beat you here?" He said playfully before looking back to the Flame Alchemist.

So, Fullmetal was already there and lounging casually on the couch; she saw the suit of armor she knew was Alphonse standing silently behind him but close by; Mustang was sitting at his desk looking perhaps a little impatient. So far, so good. It was an even greater relief when Edward spoke, actually being playful. "Yeah, well...I thought I'd give you a head start." She replied just as playfully, smiling and shrugging as she spoke. Then her gaze turned to her cousin and she knew it was time to get down to business. She moved further into the room, taking a seat on the arm of the couch Ed was sitting on, placing herself between him and Roy.

Roy brought his elbows onto the desk, and folded them in front of his mouth his lips resting just underneath his gloved hands before finally saying. "Tell me everything that happened, in detail."

Edward nodded…"When we first got there, nothing seemed out of the ordinary; it was just a normal quiet town… The next morning while we were eating I saw green hair, I had a feeling it was Envy so…we left quickly to follow him. However he tried to stab Steel Wing, and I pushed her out of the way and took the knife instead…After we defeated him, which just seemed too easy, we went back to the hotel to take care of my wound. Elizabeth took a nap and I went downstairs to get her and myself some water, I wasn't thinking straight but…one of the hotel staff asked me to help unload something, I agreed and the next thing I knew I was badly beaten and on the ground, unconscious. I wasn't sure how long it had been. I tried to get back up to the hotel room as quickly as possible, knowing Envy had to be up there. Then I stabbed him once I got there. The rest was really Elizabeth's doing." He said looking over to her.

Roy nodded every now and then to acknowledge he was listening; when Fullmetal finished his dark blue gaze shifted to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth folded her arms across her chest casually and stared at the table while the blond spoke and recounted everything that had happened in the fight with Envy about a month ago. She was nodding in agreement every now and then, just listening, until she heard what had happened while she had been asleep. Envy had beaten the crap out of him, and she had just been sleeping upstairs the whole time...Her hands dug into her arms and the look in her eyes sharpened as guilt began to tug at her chest again. She started to think about what could have happened if she had let Envy-disguised-as-Ed just leave. Would the Homunculus have gone downstairs and finished what he had started-?

She snapped out of her thoughts when Ed said her name, and she looked up at him questioningly. Yes, she supposed the rest _had_ been her doing, though she felt like she had not done much, or nearly enough to be of much or any help. Then she looked at Roy when she felt his gaze on her and nodded quickly, the nervous feeling quickly coming back. "Uh, yeah. That's exactly how I remember it. Yep. I think E-Fullmetal just about covered it." She smiled and laughed nervously. He really had summed it all up and covered everything...except, of course, what had happened between her and Envy-disguised-as-Ed before the real Edward had dragged himself back upstairs.

Edward and Roy's gazes remained on Elizabeth. They could both tell she was lying, or not giving up the whole truth.

Roy moved his arms and shifted in his chair, staring at her. "What happened when Envy was disguised as Fullmetal?" He asked, tilting his head. He knew she was lying and holding something back and he wanted to know what. He did ask for every detail, and he wanted them.

Edward also wanted to know what had happened, and he was just staring at her with golden optics, waiting. What else was he going to do? He had no idea what happened, and his natural curiosity was nagging at him to find out.

Roy's midnight blue optics glared slightly. "Steel Wing, I asked for a full report, and I expect you to give it to me." Yes, she was his cousin, but he still had to treat her like a subordinate; that was, after all what she was within the walls of this building.

Elizabeth started sweating rather comically when she felt all eyes on her. She was sitting in her seat, stiff as anything, quickly trying to think of something to say. Should she make something up, or tell them the truth? Neither Edward nor Roy knew what had happened, and she was very reluctant to say anything because she imagined neither reaction would be very pleasant. It was strange to think of it herself; she was still baffled as to why Envy had kissed her. It must have been to be sure Ed meant what the Homunculi must have suspected he meant to her. Still, it was a strange way to go about it, when there must have been so many other methods it could have used.

And the whole time these thoughts were racing through her mind, she realized, the room was still silent. At least until Colonel Mustang broke that silence by demanding her report. "Well, that is..." She began. Should she just say it and deal with the result? Tell them and flee? Or just flee? Not to mention she was afraid of anyone else knowing Edward was one of her greatest weaknesses, especially after the Homunculi now had that information. She was so torn; perhaps the knowledge would allow them to make sure he was safe, but at the same time would that mean she would not be allowed to see him?

"Right… Envy disguised himself as Fullmetal and...he-it...we...talked?" She mentally face-palmed as soon as the words had left her mouth. This was becoming pointless; they would get the information out of her one way or another. She had never been very good at lying to anyone currently in the room, whether by her fault or not, and the one big lie/secret she had been keeping was difficult enough. After taking a deep breath, she stood from her perch on the couch- "Ed—Envy kissed me." She said it in one quick breath, then quickly made for the door, intent on running before she had to face their wrath, whether it was directed at her or Envy.

"WHAT?" Edward and Roy practically screamed in unison.

Elizabeth jumped when they both yelled, panicking and hurrying her step as she made for the door. She hesitated for a second, just then realizing she may have just been about to leave Edward in the room with an angry Roy and way too many unanswered questions. Like, why would Envy thinking kissing her make his appearance as Ed more believable, for one?

When Roy saw her going of the door he stood and grabbed her left arm. The moment realization hit, he stopped and stared at her in disbelief. "Fullmetal, Alphonse, Leave, Now." He hissed looking over at them quickly, his eyes holding a glare.

Her hesitation was likely what allowed her cousin to catch up with her and grab her by the arm. The instant she felt his hand wrap around her left arm, her insides froze and all color drained from her face. This was the last way she had wanted him to find out about her automail limbs. She remained frozen on the outside as well, unable to turn and look at him; she was in shock and disbelief, as well, that this was really happening. When he demanded Edward and Alphonse leave, fear and panic caused her to snap out of her statuesque state.

Edward began to sweat and slowly backed out of the room. He was afraid of that look, everyone who knew the Flame Alchemist was.

As soon as they were clear, Roy shut and locked the door behind the Elric brothers. "What happened? Why is your arm like that?" he said he wasn't angry at her, not yet, but his eyes were still locked onto her. He wanted an explanation _immediately_.

"Ed, wait-" Elizabeth begged as a lump formed in her throat. Before she could finish or even reach out for him, Roy had shut and locked the door, trapping her in the room with him. He did not look as angry as he could have, yet, but she was certain that would change as soon as she offered an explanation. "It...It was an accident..." She barely stammered out, so used to lying about it to strangers she wasn't thinking straight. Not to mention, she was scared; Roy Mustang was the only family she had left, and she was terrified of losing him too.

"I figured as much, but what actually h-" He stopped; that look in her eyes—the Elric brothers had that look when they talked about… "You…attempted Human Transmutation, didn't you?" He asked, glaring now, "Why..? Why didn't you come to me! Why didn't you tell me what happened to you, Elizabeth?" He demanded, his eyes locked onto her. "I would have talked you out of it, I would have been by your side, I would have…I would have… _something_!"

Elizabeth could feel her whole body trembling, down to her very core, though it did not show nearly as much as she felt it did. She lowered her head, unable to bring herself to look him in the eyes. Even though he had stopped mid-sentence, she could almost _feel_ the realization washing over him as he realized what she had done. When he realized it had not been an accident so much as a mistake...a very grave mistake. She barely managed a nod, and then winced when the tone in his voice became angrier.

He would have talked her out of it? He would have done something to help? She wished he had-no she wished there had been something, anything, anyone could have done. But it was her responsibility, and her fault. Her parents died and she was left to look out for her younger siblings. When they fell ill and died one by one, _she_ was the one who failed. They were her responsibility and she failed them. Then on top of that she did something even more foolish and made an even bigger mistake in an attempt to make up for her first.

Roy turned away suddenly. "You can go." He said. He wasn't mad at her, he was mad at himself. He should have found her, he should have….that was just it: he _should _have and he didn't. He _should_ have done something. He sat at his desk and folded his hands staring ahead, saying nothing else.

When he dismissed her, she finally lifted her head and stared at him in shock. He was dismissing her? Elizabeth opened her mouth and tried to speak, to explain herself, but no words would come. He must have hated her, she thought, to just dismiss her like that without even wanting to know why she had done it. Well, excuses did not really matter, did they? She had committed the ultimate taboo and attempted to perform Human Transmutation...

Gritting her teeth she turned and unlocked the door, then yanked it open, not even managing to close it behind her as she took off running. The raven-haired girl ran until she was out of the building, passing Ed and Al on her way out, but she could not look at them either, nor stop to tell him-them what had happened. They might understand more than anyone, but she was too hurt and ashamed to think.

She continued running, slowing as she realized her heaving chest was not from exhaustion but from the dry sobs coming from her. When she stumbled, she caught herself on a wall and stopped there, leaning against it and then sinking to the ground, covering her head with her hands. She had not taken into account where she was, nor did she care, but she was now sitting in a dark alley, away from people...as far as she was aware.

* * *

Roy just sighed and stared at his desk. "Hawkeye?" He called softly; he had no idea where she was. He was choking on his own words, worried about his cousin, hating himself more than anything right now…

As if on cue, there came a soft knock at the door. Lieutenant Hawkeye entered, closing the door gently behind her. "Steel Wing just ran by in quite a hurry. Sir, did something happen-?" The blonde soldier had barely finished her sentence when she looked up and saw the expression on his face. She fell silent, and her face took on a much more somber expression, even more than her usual stoic appearance.

Roy looked up at her, his hand on his forehead. "How could she do that…How could she do that and not tell me?" He growled before looking at the desk again. He was infuriated—not at her, but at himself. "I wanted to be there for her, and where the hell was I? Nowhere to be found; I couldn't help her…There was nothing I could do!" He said before standing and walked over to the window, slamming his fist into the wall beside it.

Riza approached the Colonel's desk slowly until she was standing beside it. She stood silent for the time-being, allowing him to vent his thoughts until he had gotten everything out of his system. When he went for the wall, she reached out, but there was no way she would be able to get to him in time to stop him from hitting it. "Sir," She began, hoping he would not injure himself again. And it sounded like he needed some sort of comfort from an outside source.

"If I know Elizabeth half as well as you do, I believe I can guess what she was thinking. It was very likely she was scared, confused, and alone-and she didn't know how to ask for help; children often don't. It's our responsibility as adults to help them whether they are aware they need it or not." Exhaling softly, Hawkeye closed her eyes for a moment, and then opened them again slowly to look at her superior pointedly. "If you think you've made a mistake, sir, why not fix it." It was really not a question, but a suggestion. Elizabeth was out there somewhere now, needing comfort...perhaps after a good talking-to. Reaching into his desk, she pulled out a pad of blank paper and a pen, and began jotting something down...

* * *

Edward watched the raven-haired girl run past and shook his head, limping after her. "Lizzy, wait!" He called, trying to catch up to her. He was worried about her; he knew Roy had found out, and he knew she did not want him to find out this way. He and his younger brother finally found her in the alley and slowly kneeled beside her. Ed pulled her to him and hugged her tightly, shutting his eyes. "It'll be okay…" He whispered. He still wasn't sure why Mustang cared so much. He still had not figured out they were related. He was in pain from limping after her, but he pushed that aside and continued to hold her. Ed reached out and placed a hand gently on the side of her face, tilting her head up and kissing her cheek gently. "Lizzy, relax…" He whispered. "Please, I don't like seeing you upset…N—neither does Al."

Elizabeth shook her head against Edward's chest, barely holding back her tears. At first when he kissed her, she tried to push him away. She was still trembling, and to be honest, somewhere in the back of her mind she did not know whether or not she could trust this was not another trick. But then she grabbed onto his jacket and pressed her head against his chest, tightly shutting her eyes. "It's not going to be 'okay'..." She could barely speak around the lump in her throat; it was almost painful. "I made a huge mistake, I was an idiot, and now he knows... He's going to hate me! If he doesn't already." She finally lifted her head voluntarily to look at him, and her brilliant blue eyes were brimming with tears. "I didn't even have to say anything and he figured it out. And then...he just told me to leave. I couldn't even explain..." The onyx-haired girl could not even finish her sentence before tears began to spill from her eyes and down her cheeks. She quickly dropped her face into her hands, not wanting Edward-or Alphonse-to see her cry.

Edward sighed softly, just hugging her tightly; what else was he supposed to do? "Come on…" He whispered softly. Al tilted his head. "Beth, I don't think Mustang will hate you. If I know him well enough, he's probably hating himself and didn't want you to see him the way he is now." He said with a nod; Ed agreed. "He's right, that's just how Mustang is." He said smiling slightly. "Now, come on, let's get you back to the hotel."

Elizabeth lifted her head slowly, wiping her eyes quickly with her sleeve before looking up at them. "I..." They were right. She and Mustang were related, and they had pegged him better and faster than she had. Elizabeth was not thinking clearly; it was nice to have them there as her voices of reason. "...guess you're right." She mumbled, and then stood up slowly, using the wall to push herself into standing position.

Edward smiled slightly, before helping her stand, starting to walk…well limp with her to her hotel room. "I'm not going to leave your side."

"Me either!" Al chimed in behind the two of them smiling some. He knew Ed always had a crush on Elizabeth; he was glad they were all together again so maybe his older brother would finally do something about it.

Ed kept his hand in hers. It hurt a lot to walk, but he was hiding it well enough. Ed smiled over to her. "Are you going to be okay? You know he's going to come find you eventually, it's just a matter of when."

Elizabeth held onto Ed's hand, rather unwilling to let go, even if he had wanted to. A moment later she felt she had to, however, when she noticed he was still limping-no matter how well he attempted to hide the fact. "You're such a wimp, Fullmetal." She muttered playfully under her breath as she slipped an arm around his waist and attempted to hold some of his weight on that shoulder. Blue eyes glanced away as her cheeks reddened slightly. The offer not to leave her side was greatly appreciated; however, she was not certain how she felt having them around if Roy was eventually going to hunt her down. "You have _no_ idea..." She muttered to herself under her breath, and then cleared her throat in an attempt to hide her tiny slip and quickly spoke up. "Yeah, I'll be fine. But are you two sure you want to be around to see it? He might go a little...er—" She made a motion with her free hand, attempting to depict an explosion, and a sound along with it.

Edward laughed some. "Please, like we haven't seen Mustang pissed off. He gets angrier at me than anyone." He rubbed the back of his head. "Besides, you shouldn't be alone right now." He said, blushing some, before continuing to walk beside her back toward her hotel. "Plus when he wants to talk to you he'll just tell us to leave again with that same look on his face."

Alphonse nodded. "Ed's right about a few things. I'm sure it won't take him long to come and talk to you, especially if Lieutenant Hawkeye has talked to him already…"

The blonde nodded in agreement with his younger brother. "I'm sure she's already smacked some sense into him."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes as she shook her head. "If you say so..." She muttered under her breath, this time loud enough for them to hear. She knew Edward was right-they had seen him angry before, she was fairly certain of that. But even she had never seen him the kind of angry he must be at finding out a member of his own family had gone and committed what many considered to be the ultimate taboo. "Angry" was likely an understatement; she imagined he must be disappointed also, along with a slew of other less-than-pleasant emotions.

Blue eyes turned to look at Ed when he brought up not leaving her alone again. It was a sentiment she appreciated more than either of them may ever know. Although, perhaps they would know at least a little soon enough... She nodded, and then laughed at the mention of Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye smacking some sense into the Colonel. "Yeah, I'm sure she has..." She kept Ed's comment about Mustang making them leave again in the back of her mind as they continued on.

* * *

Roy didn't say anything. With the way he looked, he did not want to see her; he didn't want to seem so weak in front of her. But at the same time he did not want her thinking that he hated her because he never would. He looked behind him at Hawkeye and raised a brow, "What are you doing, Hawkeye?" He asked curiously, walking over to her looking over her shoulder, tilting his head to the side.

The Lieutenant suddenly stood up straight, just barely managing to avoid hitting his chin with her shoulder. She quirked a brow at him, then set down the pen and folded her hands behind her back. Then she made for the door, pulling it open with the intention of leaving. She paused in the doorway, however, and looked from the paper to him. "Elizabeth's hotel address, room number, and directions. If you decide to visit her sometime in the near future, I doubt I'll be there to ask for directions for you if you get lost." Then, as she was shutting the door: "See you tomorrow, sir." She added, rather pointedly. She would likely come back later to do more of his paperwork, and she truly hoped she would not find him still in his office. She did not want to have to threaten him and make him go see his cousin-though she highly doubted she would have to.

Roy just looked at her with a weird look on his face. He sighed, knowing she was right. He sometimes wished he could hate how she always seemed to be right. Mustang grabbed the pieced of paper and stuffed it in his pocket, sitting at his desk, thinking… After several minutes of deep thought, he finally stood and quickly left his office.

* * *

Once they had reached the hotel at which she was staying, she led them inside. The young female State Alchemist flashed her pocket watch at the receptionist, giving the woman behind the desk her room number before leading the Elric brothers upstairs. She helped Edward up the stairs, then opened the door and held it open for them. She closed it behind them, locked it for good measure, and then walked over to her bed. The raven-haired girl threw herself onto it and sighed, then rolled over and stared at the ceiling for a moment.

"I've really missed you guys." She commented suddenly, and then sat up, a tiny smile on her lips. Even though they all may have looked different, everything felt so familiar, and it made her nostalgic. Lacing her fingers, crossing flesh and metal through her gloves, she rested her elbows on her knees and let her hands hang between her legs casually. The look in her eyes was very serious, though, as she looked from the eldest brother to the youngest and back. It was apparent she was about to ask them for something meaningful. "Will you guys promise me you won't leave when R-Mustang gets here? Even if he orders you...I think you both need to hear what I have to say to him as well..." Her smile was still on her lips, but as she thought about what she might say, a deep sadness appeared in her eyes-though she tried her best to hide it from them.

"Of course," Ed promised, smiling some before sitting beside her, his hand over hers. "You need to relax, Mustang will be fine." He said with a matter-of-fact nod.

Elizabeth smiled at Edward as he sat beside her and promised they would not leave her alone with Roy this time. "Thank you..." She murmured softly as she gazed into Ed's golden eyes for a moment, suddenly feeling much better. She nodded as she glanced away, conceding reluctantly, but conceding nonetheless. She supposed he was right, but she was still afraid because she would not be sure until her cousin actually arrived and dispersed or, in the worst case, confirmed her fears.

Edward was about to say something more when he heard a knock on the door. Elizabeth heard it, and her heart nearly leapt right out of her chest.

Roy sighed softly. "Lizzy…let me in…" He called through the door, staring at the ground, his black bangs shadowing his eyes.

She heard Roy speak through the door, asking to be let in, but she hesitated. Ed looked over to the door before looking to Lizzy. When she did not get up and let Mustang in, he just shook his head, and then stood before unlocking the door and opening it. She tried to reach out and grab him to stop him, but when she missed, she smacked the palm of her right hand against her forehead and hid her face for a moment. Then she slowly lowered her hand and looked over at Alphonse, unable to hide her nervousness. But then her cousin was in the room and she felt as though she had to.

She quickly stood up from the bed, standing stiff with her hands balled into fists at her sides; she looked as though she was ready to run again. Then she braced herself...

"I'm not going anywhere, Mustang." Fullmetal hissed, glaring at his superior fearlessly.

Roy rolled his eyes, "Fine." He said before shutting the door behind him, walking over to his cousin. "I'm sorry. Okay? I'm just…I should have been there for you." He said "But I wasn't, again. I rarely saw you when you were growing up…I was never near you and…then when you needed me, I turned you away again." He stared at the ground, his bangs shadowing his eyes.

Ed just blinked a few times. "Wait, you two…are related?" He exclaimed suddenly as realization finally dawned on him. How could he not have noticed sooner?

A drop of sweat appeared above Al's head. "They're cousins, Ed…Now, sh."

Elizabeth's shoulders relaxed and her fingers uncurled slowly as Roy spoke. The raven-haired girl was so stunned, she barely heard Edward as he finally caught on to her relationship to Roy Mustang-but again, she kept his words at the back of her mind; she owed him an explanation later.

For several moments she was speechless, but when she finally managed to speak, her voice cracked. "You're right. You _should_ have been there..." Then her voice softened and though she did not want to cry, a lump formed in her throat and tears brimmed in her eyes. She was not used to so much emotion—at least she had not had so much to be upset over since she lost her family... "But I didn't tell you...I didn't come to you for help. I didn't tell anyone...they found out. You were there when my mom and dad died-you barely got leave for the funeral—and you only knew because the Rockbells called you; remember? But when the others got sick..._I_ was the one who promised to take care of them. I didn't...I should have asked for help...and n-now they're all...d—" Before she knew it, there were tears spilling down her cheeks again. She quickly dropped her head and cast a shadow over her eyes with her onyx bangs. Her eyes focused on the floor as she attempted to stop her crying.

"If I had just tried a little harder, or told someone, or asked for help, or...anything, maybe they never would have gotten sick. Maybe this never would have happened. Maybe _this_—!" Becoming frustrated and angry with herself, she tore off her coat and jacket, fully revealing her arms in front of others for the first time in years. Her left arm, now entirely made of automail, shone dully in the light of the hotel room. Stumbling backwards slightly, she dropped onto the edge of the bed and brought her hands up to hide her face. After a moment, as her words and action hung thick in the air, leaving it heavy and filled with her sadness, she managed to compose herself enough to spit out one final thought: "If anyone is at fault, Roy...it's _me_."

Roy walked over to her and hugged her tightly. He did not move, he did not let go for a long time; he just held her tightly, shutting his eyes. "I'm sorry, Lizzy…" He whispered "I should have been there more…but the military took over my life." He whispered. He reached out and tilted her head up by her chin, smiling at her softly. "I'll never let you live alone." He whispered hugging her tight again, shutting his eyes and kissing the top of her head…

Ed wanted to hug her, he wanted to hold her, and tell her everything would be okay…But he could not, not with Mustang here.

"I wish you would have told me. I still love you, though…and nothing will change that." Roy said quietly. "Nothing you ever do…will change that."

Elizabeth's eyes slowly widened in shock behind her hands; she was somewhat surprised to find arms around her, but she was most surprised they were Roy's. Of course she had always felt and been very close with her cousin, but it was difficult for either of them to show how they felt about one another. They were more like brother and sister than cousins, especially now after she had lost her siblings. This was a very strange, but very nice and appreciated action. Actions really did speak louder than words, especially in this moment, but his words certainly did not hurt.

Slowly Mustang's raven-haired cousin turned her body into his embrace and shakily moved her exposed arms so she could clutch his jacket. She was clinging to him, and felt perhaps a little childish, but she did not care; she felt safe. His words caused her to swell with emotion until finally she gave in and began to cry again. "They're gone, Roy...They're all gone!" Her muffled words floated out from where her face was buried in his chest. She had been holding her thoughts back for years after the initial shock of losing her entire immediate family. It was hitting her all over again that both of her parents and all of her siblings were gone forever and she would never see them again, at least not in this life. She was very grateful she had Edward and Alphonse here, as well as her only remaining family who she was clinging to very tightly, because all of a sudden she felt very scared and alone...

Roy shut his eyes and just held his cousin; he was not really sure of what to say other than, "I'm sorry, Lizzy…" He whispered softly. He wished there was more he could do, but he knew there wasn't. It was all in the past, there was nothing he could do now but help her move on… and he wasn't even sure how to do that. The raven haired male just held the smaller form, keeping her close, and he wasn't going to let go. His cousin needed him right now and that's all he cared about, He wasn't going to leave her, not again when she needed him so badly.

Edward sighed some, rubbing the back of his head. He wished he could do more; he knew he couldn't either, and he felt horrible. He at least got to keep his brother…she literally had nothing. Ed promised himself in the back of his head, he would never leave her side again. She did not deserve to be alone…

Steel Wing shook her head against the Flame Alchemist's chest, but said nothing for a moment longer as her body shook slightly with her sobbing. She just leaned into him more, as though to prove to herself he was really there. Elizabeth wished Edward and Al could be closer to her as well right now, but she also knew that was not possible as long as her cousin was present. In the back of her mind, far from her concerns about her permanently-missing family which occupied the forefront of her mind, she knew there was no way she could explain their newfound "friendship" to him right now. She doubted Roy even really remembered her neighbors, the Elrics. The Rockbells were far more memorable due to their involvement in her care and her parents' funeral.

"Roy...don't you dare blame yourself. I know you...This is all my fault, not yours. If you do something stupid and thoughtless like blaming yourself and making this about you...I will never...forgive you." She mumbled suddenly against his chest.

In a few more moments, her body gradually began to go limp as exhaustion on top of more exhaustion overpowered her, and within minutes, Lizzy had fallen asleep in Roy's arms. It had been an overwhelming day for her, and her body simply would not and could not take no for an answer when sleep demanded it give in. Elizabeth would likely wake up embarrassed she had let herself fall asleep again, especially with Ed and Al there as well, but there was nothing she could do to prevent it. She was out like a light.

Roy blinked as he started to get lectured, he sighed slightly before slowly lifting her and laying her in her bed pulling the sheets over her before he looked over to Edward. "I have work I have to do, Fullmetal, I trust I can leave you here with her and nothing will happen to her?" He hissed; it wasn't really a question it was more of a statement. He turned on his heel before leaving the room "Call me when she wakes up." He stated again before leaving the room heading back toward HQ. Edward sighed softly before sitting beside her, leaning down kissing her forehead softly, his golden eyes looking down at her, a small smile on his lips. He was happy she was asleep, she really needed it; she was probably exhausted.

As Elizabeth was lifted into Roy's arms, she unconsciously snuggled against his chest, though she was only held for a moment. Then she cuddled into her pillow for a second, as though adjusting herself briefly, though she was fast asleep. After that, though, she fell still for the time-being. Only after Edward kissed her forehead did she stir, rolling over onto her side, facing him where he sat beside her on her bed. Her right hand shifted out from beneath the sheet and fell beside his own. As though sensing there was someone nearby, her hand inched slightly and suddenly latched onto Edward's. She may have thought she was holding Roy's hand, or perhaps her subconscious knew exactly whose hand it was. Either way, her grip was weak with sleep, but it was very much present.

* * *

Several hours passed which Lizzy slept through without incident...then her brow began to knit and she started quietly groaning in her sleep.

In her dreams, she returned to the incident about a month ago. She watched as Envy and Edward fought, then as Envy entered her hotel room disguised as Fullmetal.

After she chased Envy out the window, she was suddenly looking out her bedroom window from her hometown of Resembool. Her siblings were playing in the yard below, but one by one they began to disappear. Once they had all vanished, she heard coughing from behind her and turned to find them all lying in their beds. She was in their room, struggling to nurse them back to health and do everything she could think of to make them better. One by one they began to disappear again. She finally began to cry when the littlest one vanished, calling out their names and begging them to come back. Her voice did not even sound like it was coming from her, and echoed.

Suddenly she was standing alone in a very dark place, wearing the clothes she currently wore. After looking around for a while, disoriented and confused, she heard a laugh growing louder. At first it surrounded her, and then suddenly it focused behind her. When she whipped around, Envy was standing mere inches from her face. She tried to jump back, but the Homunculus grabbed her by the arms and pulled her close. Steel Wing tried to look away, but tiny black hands, darker than darkness, shot out from the blackness and made her look at him.

"_I_'_ve been wanting to do this for a long time, Lizzy_..." He spoke in a mocking, sing-song voice as the creature's face came closer and closer to her own. She pleaded with him to stop. In an instant, she felt a shooting pain throughout her body. Forgetting about Envy for the moment, she looked down... Her left arm and right leg were missing as though they had been torn from her body, and as blood flowed from the wounds, she felt herself weakening while simultaneously suffering indescribable pain. She was reliving the moment she had lost her arm and leg again, and when she heard the laughing again, she slowly lifted her head. She was on the floor now, and Envy was standing before her, staring down at her with a wicked grin tugging his face in half. The Homunculus's voice was echoing and becoming too distant for her to understand, but she did retain the memory of him saying, "_You are a precious human sacrifice_..."

Before Elizabeth shot up in her bed in a hotel in Central, crying out in fear and alarm as she came out of her dream. She was almost as white as the sheet sliding off her body from her sudden motion, and she was drenched with sweat. For a moment, Elizabeth just stared at her lap, breathing heavily and severely disoriented.

For the few hours Ed and Al were entertaining themselves well enough, but when he saw her sit up, Edward stood and went over to her tilting her head up to make her took him in the eyes. "Lizzy?" He whispered, his hands moving over hers. "You're okay..." He whispered gently moving his hands pulling her to him, shutting his eyes and gently stroking her hair. He remembered those nightmares all too well, and he hated when they came back up.

Elizabeth lifted her head and looked into Edward's eyes, but it was obvious her mind was somewhere far away. When he said her name, however, she gasped softly and snapped out of her daze. "Y-yeah..." She murmured, still trembling, and then sighed with relief as she leaned into Ed's chest. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to calm her pounding heart. But as soon as she closed her eyes, she saw flashes of things that had just occurred in her dream, so she quickly opened her eyes again. She lifted her head to rest on his shoulder for a moment, smiling weakly over his shoulder at Al. She blinked and looked at Fullmetal questioningly when he pulled back. When he kissed her, her face flushed a bright shade of red, but she closed her eyes and gladly accepted the affection. Then she hugged him again, burying her face in his neck and holding him tightly. "It felt so real..." She whispered quietly, lowering her eyelids slightly, but not closing her eyes all the way.

Al nodded to her gently placing a hand on her shoulder "Everything will be ok…I promise." He said with another nod. Edward nodded as well. "He's right, I know how much those suck, but I promise they'll go away again..." He said, steadily looking into her eyes. "Just shut your eyes and relax." He whispered before grabbing her and laying down her head on his chest his arms around her body, "Just relax, and try to sleep again…" He whispered, staring at the ceiling with his golden optics.

Steel Wing lifted her head to look up at Alphonse and tried to give him a smile, but it was very weak. "Thanks, Al..." She murmured her voice full of sincerity. Elizabeth exhaled softly and relaxed against Edward's chest, closing her eyes for a moment as he suggested. She doubted there was any way she would be able to sleep again for a while after that nightmare, but there was really no harm in trying.

* * *

In his office, Roy sighed slightly before walking to his desk sitting in his chair looked up at the ceiling he turned and put an elbow on his chair arm, his fist closing his cheek against it. Another sigh escaping his lips, and then he muttered under his breath, "Damn it."

Roy started working on his paperwork, he noticed the pile was quite smaller, and he started to think maybe Riza had begun to do it for him, he smiled some…looked up at the ceiling "Hawkeye!" He said loudly.

Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye fortunately happened to be in the room when Colonel Mustang called for her. She lifted her head questioningly from her table at which she was working and looked at her superior. "Sir?" She replied in her usual monotone.

Roy looked over to her. "Thank you, for quite a few things. I really needed it." He mumbled before going back to signing his paper work, and slowly making the pile smaller and smaller. He moved his wrist back and forth trying to get the cramps out of his wrist sighing some again; he really did appreciate all she did for him.

Lieutenant Hawkeye blinked as though she did not understand. As soon as the meaning in his words clicked, she kept her poker face on and just went back to her own paperwork. "I don't know to what you're referring, sir." She said softly, playing dumb just in case. It was also her way of ending the conversation and not allowing him to give her credit; she did not care about things like that.

* * *

After several minutes of trying to relax, Elizabeth opened her eyes and sighed, pouting and looking irritated. "...I can't." She mumbled. Lizzy pulled away from Ed gently and scratched her head, appearing somewhat embarrassed for not being able to go back to sleep. She was just too wide awake now to even think about sleeping more; perhaps if she let out some of her built-up energy… Elizabeth stood from the bed slowly and stretched, then walked over to her discarded cloak and jacket. She pulled on her jacket first, then her red cloak, adjusting herself before heading for the door. "I need some air. I'm going for a walk-I'll be right back, okay?" She grumbled, then opened and shut the door behind her quickly, locking it out of habit. Then she was off down the hall and out of the hotel as quickly as possible, needing a few moments alone to compose herself.

Ed blinked. "Lizzy—wait—" He sighed when the door shut. He knew he couldn't let her go around alone, Mustang would kill him. He stood before blinking as Al grabbed his arm. "Let her go, brother, she needs this…You used to do it too." He said. Edward nodded. "Alright, but if she's not back in fifteen minutes, I'm going after her..." The blond whispered, staring at the ground.

Once outside, Elizabeth's gait slowed somewhat and she took to strolling along the sidewalk. She took little notice of the shops and the people around her, lost in her own thoughts. As she walked, the Steel Wing Alchemist shoved her gloved hands into her pockets and sighed somewhat loudly. She paused for a moment, finding herself looking up through the branches of a tree she had stopped beneath. That was how she noticed the sky, and she lowered her gaze slightly to stare at the setting sun and the beautiful sunset it produced. Suddenly, she found herself thinking about home, and the way the sunsets looked in Resembool, unblocked by buildings. She also found herself thinking how she wished Edward was with her right now. He was waiting for her back in her hotel room, along with his brother, and it would be so easy to just turn around and go back. She could feel safe there, and perhaps once she sorted out her thoughts, she could talk to them.

Elizabeth turned on her heel to go back, and for a split second, faced the dark alley that had been to her right. If she had not, she never would have seen what happened next coming, though she still could not stop it. She was caught off-guard, not knowing what she was seeing. The darkness from the shadows of the buildings creating the alley was actually moving and emerging towards her. In an instant, strips of the darkness shot forward and wrapped around her ankles, forcing them together and bringing her to the ground. Before she could even grunt, she was flipped onto her back and dragged into the alley at lightning speed. The raven-haired girl vanished into the shadows and then vanished entirely before there could be a single witness. Within moments, she was no longer in the alley, and she would not remember what happened until much later...


	7. Chapter 7: The Trap

Edward sighed; the fifteen minutes was up, so he stood and left the room and started walking. "Where the hell is she…?" He asked aloud, looking around. Al was behind him shaking his head. "I don't know; I can't imagine she went far…" Ed sighed before running toward Central Headquarters.

Once there, he opened the door to Roy's office and looked around, knowing he was caught the moment Mustang stared at him.

"Fullmetal…why isn't my cousin with you?" He asked the blond, glaring slightly, his fist tightening. His midnight blue eyes locked onto Ed.

"About that…she went for a walk and…uh…I can't find her. I thought she might have been around here…"

"WHAT?" The Colonel yelled. He was about to snap his fingers when water came seemingly out of nowhere and wet his gloves just enough to keep him from using them.

"Now now, Colonel, burning your subordinates really isn't a good idea." A female voice chastised the Flame Alchemist.

Mustang jumped and stood, saluting his superior. "Ma'am, what are you doing here?"

A young woman with long, light brown hair walked into the room from where she had appeared in the doorway. She had gloves on her hands, and her green eyes locked onto Mustang. "First, what's your problem..?" She asked, tilting her head.

"Major General Stryker…Steel Wing seems to have been kidnapped."

"I see… Well, that is your cousin; I suppose I can see why you would want to burn him…" She said looking over at Edward.

Ed blinked. "What? Who the hell are you?" He demanded, narrowing his eyes slightly.

Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye stood and saluted her and Mustang's superior officer. She remained silent as they spoke back and forth, but when Edward rudely asked the Major General who she was Riza looked at him, appalled. "Edward! This is the Translucent Water Alchemist, Major General Stryker. Please, show her some respect." She said "please" out of her consistent need to always be polite and professional, but it was really more of an order than a request. Hawkeye wanted to keep everyone focused on the situation at hand. As they all knew, if Elizabeth had been kidnapped, she was likely in some very dangerous hands, and they needed to find her as quickly as possible.

Alina shook her head and waved her hand. "At ease you two, we have more important matters to attend to; Lieutenant Hawkeye would you please join Fullmetal in finding anything as to Steel Wing's disappearance? I need to talk to the Colonel." She smiled slightly at Hawkeye; she didn't mean any harm she just needed to talk to him.

As soon as she was given permission, Lieutenant Hawkeye stood at ease. "Yes sir." She replied. Of course Hawkeye knew her well enough, but the blonde woman had just become very stiff and professional over the years she had spent in the military. Turning to Edward, she nodded in the direction of the door of Mustang's office, and then led the way out.

Ed blinked a few times; he still did not salute her or anything, he just stood there before nodding slightly. He would rather have Riza with him than an angry Mustang anyway, it made him feel a lot better, and like he wouldn't die…by fire at least. He walked out of the office, looking up at Hawkeye almost as soon as they were out of the room. "So…what do you think she wanted to talk to him about?" He mumbled.

Riza glanced down at him before looking forward as they continued on down the hall. "To be honest, I'm not sure. And anyway, Ed, their conversation is not what you need to concern yourself with right now. Show me where you last saw Elizabeth, and we'll see if we can't find a trail of some kind. Do you have any idea of who may have taken her? You said she was kidnapped...what makes you say that?" She asked, but did not stop walking. Deep down, not so deep, she was very worried...

"I just know her," Edward replied. "She said she was just going for a walk, and she wouldn't have been gone this long. Plus I couldn't find her…This way…" He said as he led Hawkeye past the alley Elizabeth had been kidnapped from, still not knowing that's where she was taken from. He walked toward her hotel. "She said she was going to take a walk then nothing. I waited fifteen minutes before I went after her…"

Hawkeye nodded as Fullmetal spoke, listening to him and coming up with possible scenarios at the same time. She followed him now, allowing him to lead her to the hotel where Elizabeth had been staying. But she paused before they reached it, shaking her head. "I don't need to see the hotel." She called just loud enough for him to hear her, as he had gotten ahead of her a little bit. "Did you happen to see which way she went?" If not, they would just have to split up and look for clues in one of the two directions she could have gone. There was bound to be something; Riza had a feeling her kidnapper(s) had not taken her without reason. It was likely they wanted something, and thus there was a very good chance they wanted to be found, at least sooner or later...

* * *

Alina waited until the two blonds were gone, and then smiled slightly before saluting the dark-haired man still in the room with her. "Congratulations, _Brigadier General_ Mustang, you're moving up in the world." She said before moving her hand down, Mustang just stared at her, taken aback. "Are you serious?" He asked in disbelief.

Alina nodded. "I am…Hawkeye has been promoted as well, two ranks. I just needed her to help Fullmetal, he doesn't seem too perceptive. I'll give you both a more formal promotion later."

* * *

Edward shook his head. "This way…" He said walking in the direction he knew she walked in, walking beside Hawkeye looking at the ground as he did. He felt really bad and completely blamed himself. He should have gone with her…

Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye turned on her heel and stayed in step with Edward as he turned and lead her in the direction Elizabeth had headed off in, on the walk she had never come back from. She searched the ground with her eyes, as well as their surroundings in general. There had to be some hint somewhere of where Elizabeth had been taken. At the entrance to the alleyway where Steel Wing had disappeared, Riza paused.

She studied the ground for a moment, then the walls. Something was telling her this was the place to start looking, and when she saw faint drag marks in the concrete that only a metal limb could have made, her suspicions were confirmed. Looking further into the alley, she saw holes in the ground in a formation that could not have been natural. It looked as if something had been holding something down...or someone.

"Stay here, Fullmetal. I'm going to call Colonel Mustang-I think we're going to need back-up for this one." And then she was gone, taking off for the hotel. There, she called the Colonel and gave him her report, telling him what they had found indicating that alley was the place Elizabeth-Steel Wing had been taken from.

* * *

What Hawkeye had not seen was a piece of Elizabeth's red coat that had been blown against the piles of garbage further back in the alley. It was just large enough to be seen if one knew what they were potentially looking at. That, coupled with the holes in the concrete and where they were placed, gave a huge hint: Lust was most definitely involved.

Edward walked forward and grabbed the piece of cloth, holding it tightly in his hand, shutting his eyes as he did. "Damn…!" He whispered, holding it tightly before looking up at the sky. It was getting late; Elizabeth had been gone a long time…

He turned, and in seconds, Ed was gone from the alleyway. He had a feeling he knew exactly where she was…H e started running to the warehouse still gripping the cloth in his hands.

* * *

Some unknown amount of time had passed, and Elizabeth finally started to come to. She was completely unaware she had been unconscious and missing for several hours. Pale eyelids squeezed together, and then fluttered open slightly to reveal blue eyes as the young female tried to get a look at her surroundings. It was dark, and difficult to see anything, plus she was still groggy, so she just closed her eyes again and tried to relax. Then she shifted to try to sit up, and her hands would not come forward to push her up off the ground. Confused, Elizabeth tried again to bring her arms forward. They were asleep for a few more seconds, but as she circled her wrists to attempt to give them circulation, she started to get feeling back. That was when she realized her wrists were bound by some unknown restraints. She tried to wiggle them free of her bindings, but was shocked when the restraints actually seemed to tighten, and rather painfully. She was suddenly made aware of restraints around her ankles when they did the same thing. Steel Wing winced and cringed, lying still and ceasing to struggle in the hopes her bindings might loosen.

They did not, but an eerie voice came from behind her and startled her. "The Steel Wing Alchemist girl is awake." The voice hissed and seemed to echo at the same time. Lizzy opened her eyes and tried to turn her head in an attempt to see who was speaking, but all she saw was darkness-at the last second she realized it was the "living" darkness that had grabbed her and dragged her into the alley.

Things were slowly coming back to her now: she remembered after being pulled into the dark seeing a figured standing above her. She was pinned to the ground by one, then another came out of the darkness and gave her one swift kick to the stomach which knocked the wind out of her violently enough to cause her to black out almost instantly. Now as Elizabeth faced forward and looked up, she saw the same figure standing above her again.

"Don't worry, girl. I'm sure the Fullmetal pipsqueak will be here to 'rescue' you soon enough. Then we can all 'talk'..." Lust spoke in her deep, sensual voice as she stared down at the young girl apathetically. "We left enough behind that he should figure out where we are within...well, at least a few hours." She smirked when Elizabeth glared up at her, but still the girl said nothing.

Already bored, Lust turned to leave, and her loyal follower Gluttony followed after her, always on her heels. "Do what you want, Envy, just so long as you don't kill her." Lust drawled as she passed Envy, leaving the other Homunculus to watch over the Alchemist. Knowing him, he was not too pleased about being chased off and forced to retreat by the young girl alone, and was looking for a little payback. "We still need her; don't forget that." And then she was gone, with Gluttony chanting after her, "Don't forget, don't forget.~" Then he asked, "Can I eat her later?" To which Lust could be heard replying, "No, Gluttony, you can't eat her..."

Elizabeth averted her eyes as soon as she heard Envy's name, trying to hide the fear in her eyes at being left alone with the violent creature.

Envy just smirked and nodded. "I know…I'll leave her breathing." He said before walking over to her, he knelt in front of her grabbing her by her hair pulling her up, staring into her eyes with his own, "L—Lizzy..." He had suddenly transformed into one of her sick siblings, her youngest brother. He tilted his head slightly. "W—Why did you let us die? Why did you just leave us like that?" He dropped her before going to the other side of her kicking her hard in the back.

Elizabeth winced and clenched her teeth as Envy pulled her up by her hair, then glared into his eyes. That is, until the Homunculus suddenly changed into one of her siblings. It threw her off for a moment; when he kicked her in the back, she coughed, and then glared over her shoulder at him.

He knelt down and grinned, midnight blue eyes looking into hers. "You know I don't love you, right?" His voice rang out as Roy. "You did something I could never forgive…Something I look down on, you shamed me, Elizabeth…I hate you…I didn't go to your parents' funeral for very long because I hate you…I didn't want to see you that's why I joined the military…to get away from you.." He said before punching her hard in the face.

She shut her eyes tightly when he punched her, gritting her teeth and trying not to cry out from the shock of being hit in the face. Slowly Steel Wing turned her head to look up at Envy, glaring at the Homunculus with pure rage in her eyes. She was trembling with anger, but that anger was also hiding the fact Envy knew her weaknesses and greatest fears, and was getting to her. "You had better shut the hell up, Envy...! Your stupid tricks aren't going to work on me!" She spat, remaining defiant and stubborn until the end.

Envy just grinned. "We'll see about that." He said in his own voice, before he turned into Ed, leaning down and tilting her head up, stealing another kiss from her. "You know I'm just using you, right?" He asked before Envy turned back into himself, kicking her hard in the stomach again. Then he aimed his foot up higher and kicking her in the ribs, over and over, until he heard the satisfying crack that he wanted to hear…

Elizabeth's jaw tightened and she looked away again, averting her eyes to the ground rather than looking Envy in the eyes. But when he turned into Edward and she was forced to look into his eyes before he forced another kiss on her, her eyes widened. As soon as he pulled away, she spat at him, but it was apparent in her eyes her defiance was waning. "That's not true-!" Elizabeth tried to protest and call him on the lie, but she was cut off and coughed as he kicked the air from her stomach. She grunted and groaned as the Homunculus kicked her repeatedly in the ribs, trying not to make a sound. It would only serve to satisfy him.

But when she heard and felt her ribs crack, she heard a scream rip through the room of the warehouse she was trapped in. For a few seconds, in the back of her mind she wondered who was crying out in so much excruciating pain. Then Elizabeth realized suddenly _she_ was the one screaming...

Envy laughed loudly when he heard her scream. "I'm so glad to hear that!" He said, grinning before grabbing her wrist bending it back until he heard the crack he wanted to hear there too.

Elizabeth grit her teeth and closed her eyes as Envy bent her wrist backwards, but her eyes flew open and she cried out, then screamed again when she felt and clearly heard her wrist break. She hated giving Envy the satisfaction of her pain, but it was impossible to keep herself from screaming when he was literally breaking her body slowly, bit by bit.

"Hn, I do love hearing you scream…" He said, smirking more, before kicking her leg, hard, then leaning down and punching her in the stomach until he felt the warm red liquid on his face… He licked it off before grinning, leaning down to place his face directly in front of hers. "So…are you broken yet?" He whispered before licking the blood off her lips. Then he began kicking her in the stomach again, hard.

She grit her teeth again and kept her mouth shut tight when he kicked her leg, then coughed and grunted as he punched her over and over and over again in her stomach. Finally, she felt something inside of her fracture, and as she coughed, blood began to fly from her mouth and onto Envy's face since he was so close. Her head jerked away instinctively when he moved to lick her blood from her lips.

Elizabeth was breathing heavily and with a great deal of effort; she was covered in bruises and her own blood, and several of her bones were broken, sprained, or bruised. Steel Wing finally managed to choke out the one word: "..._No_..." She glared up at him as her defiance returned, refusing to completely give in.

Suddenly the blackness behind her released her wrists and ankles and allowed her limbs to drop limp and broken onto the floor. "And I thought I was prideful.~ That, or you've gone soft, Envy.~" The creepy voice mocked both of them from behind her, then fell silent again. Elizabeth tried to lift herself with her left arm, but her body was trembling too much from the pain and she fell back onto the hard floor with a quiet grunt.

Envy smirked. "Perhaps a little bit of both." He grinned before kneeling down tilting his head to the side before grabbing her metal arm and ripping it out of the socket before sighing some, looking up at the ceiling. "Hn, I suppose I should stop before I do kill her…" He then turned into Edward, and walked out of the room.

Elizabeth lifted her head weakly to glare directly into Envy's eyes. She was not about to show him any weakness so long as she had any choice in the matter. The raven-haired girl's blue eyes became clouded with confusion when Envy grabbed her automail arm. Then realization washed over her features before her face turned white as she felt her arm being ripped out of its socket. She grit her teeth and tried to prepare herself, but nothing could prepare her for the feeling of having her arm ripped off and her nerves shredded apart in a moment that seemed to drag out for far too long.

A scream built in her throat then erupted from her, full of complete and utter agony as Envy fully ripped her automail arm out of its socket. At last her body collapsed in a pile on the floor, and she fought to stay conscious. Envy's voice was distant, and her vision was swimming and becoming fuzzy. The last thing she saw was Envy disguising himself as Edward and then leaving the room, before the pain throughout her body overwhelmed her and she blacked out.

* * *

Mustang nodded as he spoke into the phone receiver. "I'll be there in a second." He said, "Major General…" He whispered as he turned to look at his superior meaningfully.

Alina nodded, "Go, I'll be there in a few minutes to help you." She smiled slightly.

* * *

The Lieutenant nodded, then spoke into the phone, "Yes, sir." Before she hung up and hurried to return to where she had left Edward.

By the time she reached the alley, though, Edward was already gone. Hawkeye made a disapproving sound as she spun around, searching for him frantically. But she knew he was already long gone-he must have figured out where Elizabeth had been taken and had left the adults to figure it out for themselves. It might take them longer and they might be too late to be of much or any help, but it would not be impossible. The blonde woman would continue to search for clues nearby while she waited for Colonel Mustang to show up. Whatever Edward had seen that had told him where Mustang's cousin was, she would figure it out and find them. She already had a few theories, and they were sounding more and more probable by the minute.

* * *

He ran the whole way without stopping for more than a few seconds to make certain he was going the correct direction. In this way, Edward soon barged into the warehouse, looking into every single room before he finally spotted Elizabeth on the floor, unconscious. "Lizzy..." He whispered before running over to her. "Lizzy!" He said her name again, slowly lifting her into his arms.

He looked over at her automail arm and growled. Then he slowly picked it up and put it back in while she was still knocked out so she did not have to do it later, and hoping the pain might shock her awake. "Lizzy, please wake up!" He said again his eyes watering. He was not sure if he got there too late. She was in bad shape, and he could not stand the thought of losing her.

* * *

Mustang soon arrived in the alley by his cousin's hotel, and immediately looked around noticing something—or some_one_ was missing. "Where's Fullmetal?" He demanded, looking at Hawkeye before he sighed. "He left to go get her didn't he?" He grumbled before crossing his arms slightly, glaring off to the side.

The Lieutenant saluted as Colonel Mustang approached, then stood at attention. She sank into at-ease position as he spoke, and then nodded in shame. "Yes sir." She murmured, and then pointed to the holes she was standing near. "But I think I may know where he went, Colonel. A while back, Steel Wing mentioned a place she suspected the Homunculus may have been based in." She still was not sure how the young girl knew this, and was not entirely certain she wanted to know, lest she worry more than the girl already tended to make her. "Perhaps we should start there, sir." She respectfully suggested.

Roy nodded slightly. "Lead the way." He said before following after her. It was obvious he was worried, really worried. After all he had no idea where his cousin was; he had no idea if she was still alive, or how badly she was injured if she was. He just followed behind his Lieutenant in silence, not even telling her about his promotion…He was too worried.

Riza nodded and gave a "Yes, sir," before she turned and lead the way to the warehouse as quickly as possible. She knew Mustang was concerned, and she could understand the feeling; she was concerned as well. Certainly not on the level he was, but she could completely understand how the Colonel must have been feeling.

Alina was walking behind them in silence. She didn't say anything; she knew they were both worried about the raven haired girl, and she understood that, which is why she was going to help.

Roy sighed softly, looking back at Alina as they walked. "Thank you for helping." Alina just nodded, acknowledging his thanks without a word.

* * *

Elizabeth saw nothing but black for yet another indeterminable amount of time. She did not dream, she was aware of absolutely nothing. She could not even hear Edward when he was calling her name; she was too far gone. When he re-attached her automail arm to its respective shoulder, most of her nerves forcefully reconnected in an instant and she woke up suppressing a scream. Her eyes shot open and she tried to sit up, but her body was too weak and she only jarred herself enough to cough up blood.

When she looked up, she saw it was Edward holding her and she almost instantly recalled Envy changing his appearance before he left the room-but only after she felt relief that Ed was there. She rolled her body away from him, but only far enough to fall onto her stomach and just barely catch herself with her hands before her face hit the floor. But her broken wrist sent shooting pain up her arm and throughout her body and she had to stop another scream in her throat before it escaped.

She collapsed onto her stomach, trembling from the pain in her wrist, her ribs, her arm, and just about everywhere else in her body, it seemed. "H-how do I know you're not Envy...?" She growled weakly, as though she could be intimidating enough in the condition she was in to scare him away even if it was Envy. As if to emphasize this, she coughed again and more blood flew past her lips and splattered all over the floor.

Edward blinked looking at her slowly standing walking over to her tilting his head. "I'm not Envy, Lizzy, I promise you that. If I was, I wouldn't know that Roy is going to kill me for letting you go on a walk by yourself, and I'm not going live past today when I get you out of here because I will be burned to death. Which sucks, but I know I never should have let you leave that hotel…And I'm sorry." He whispered, slowly trying to help her up.

Elizabeth lifted her head slowly and weakly to look up at Edward. She listened to him speak, and at last her body seemed to relax, and visibly so. She shook her head as her eyes began to fill with tears. She could not help but laugh softly. "He won't hurt you. I won't let him." She smirked, then groaned and doubled over as her insides hurt from the movement. "I'm...sorry, Ed...I shouldn't have let them catch me off-guard." She murmured. Elizabeth tried to sit up when Edward attempted to help her.

That was when she noticed movement; the shadows to the right of them had turned into complete and total blackness, like a shifting abyss in the shadows. It began to move like snakes, and suddenly several tendrils of it shot out and wrapped around Elizabeth's neck. She could just barely lift her damaged left arm to try to grab at it as the blackness pulled her away from Edward. Once she was caught in the middle of it, it wrapped around her wrists and pulled them out away from her body, while simultaneously wrapping around her torso and ankles. It pulled tight, tugging at her wrists suddenly and causing her to cry out. The sound was already quieted by the tendril around her throat, but that slithered up the side of her neck, then across and over her mouth, silencing her. She would have struggled, but her body was too weak and broken to obey and do so.

Suddenly, all around her, eyes of different sizes but the same basic shape and red color opened, accompanied by grinning mouths full of sharp teeth. All of the mouths opened and spoke at once, producing the voice Elizabeth had heard speak from behind her earlier, "That's enough of that noise, Steel Wing girl. Envy may enjoy hearing you scream, but I find it quite tiresome. Still, I do understand the pleasure found in causing you pain." The tendrils of black squeezed her everywhere they touched, making her scream in pain again, but this time the sound was muffled greatly.

"That's enough, Pride. You know how Envy will get if you kill the girl he was told not to. Never mind how cross Father will be. Besides," Lust was standing in the doorway, leaning against the door frame, with Gluttony at her side, blocking the only exit. "We need her conscious long enough to have our talk." She spoke in sultry tones. The tendrils seemed to loosen, if the lack of Elizabeth's screaming was any indication.

Envy walked out and stood beside Lust leaning against the door frame. "Yes, if you kill her and I wasn't allowed to…well, we know what will happen…"

Edward glared as he saw Elizabeth get dragged off and there was nothing he could do to stop it. His hands clapped together as he touched his metal arm pulling the blade out, his eyes narrowing at the Homunculi. "Let her go." He hissed before running at Lust, starting to slash at her. He just wanted his friend to be okay, and though she was alive, but he was not sure how long it would stay that way. "What the hell do you guys want?" He demanded, his fist clenching.

Without moving an inch and before she said anything more, Lust's fingers extended into sharp points, her favorite method of fighting. But rather than aiming at Fullmetal, one hand lifted and aimed at Elizabeth. The pointed tips moved at lightning fast speed, but the Homunculus was precise, and her deadly appendages halted just short of Elizabeth's flesh. Her index and middle fingers were at the raven-haired girl's throat, while her ring finger threatened the girl's chest, and her thumb and pinky came to her shoulders, all ready to pierce flesh if provoked. "Now, now," Lust scolded, smirking slightly.

Envy grinned slightly before looking at Fullmetal. "You're way too easy to trick, Fullmetal Pipsqueak."

A vein in Edward's forehead popped. "I AM NOT SMALL!" He yelled, flailing slightly before getting serious and glaring again. "If it's me you want, then let her go!"

After he and Envy, who had finally joined them, where finished with their exchange, Lust continued speaking. "I told you, boy, we just want to talk. It was merely easier to bring her here first. She was distracted, and easily caught off-guard; human emotions are so easy to predict and manipulate."

Elizabeth's head fell forward slightly in shame; Pride pulled her head up again, however, to force her to watch, and to make certain it kept her listening.

"With Steel Wing here, it would be nothing to get you to come 'rescue' her. How pathetic." She drawled; the whole thing bored her. Edward's feelings for Elizabeth were far too easy to see, and thus manipulate-it was no fun.

"Pathetic, pathetic!" Gluttony echoed.

Lust ignored the short, fat Homunculus and continued. "But anyway, we're not all here to talk about your human romance. We're here because you two young Alchemists need to understand something: we cannot allow you to be reckless. Envy has been dealt with," At this she shot the Homunculus being spoken of a glare, and then returned her cold gaze to Edward, then Elizabeth, then Edward again. "But your pride and stubbornness ultimately landed you in the hospital. Being injured is one thing, but if you two fools were to die, that would pose a problem for us. We can't have anything happening to our precious human sacrifices, now, can we?" She asked rhetorically with another smirk tugging at her lips.

Envy scoffed slightly at the part about them having a 'talk' about his behavior, but it's not like he cared—that was how he said 'hello'. He just kept his eyes on Fullmetal. Oh how he wanted to torture him just as he had the raven-haired female, but he knew Lust would not allow it, at least not now.

Edward glared slightly. "There, you talked, now let her go." He said angrily. He knew he didn't have the upper hand here, but he also knew they would not just kill Elizabeth. But she was badly injured, he had to get her to the hospital and soon. His clenched fists tightened slightly. He was starting to think he should not have run off without Hawkeye, and just left Mustang behind. He knew Hawkeye would probably have demanded they stay and wait but at least he would have been able to tell her exactly where he was going. He inwardly cursed at himself; even bringing Alphonse would have been a better idea than running off on his own.

Another tendril slithered from the core of the blackness and around and up Elizabeth's body. It stopped around her neck, merely resting there and not serving to choke her, this time. The end of it formed into a tiny hand which crawled up along her cheek, then brushed along her skin with its miniature fingertips. Its fingertips were surprisingly razor-sharp, and as the hand pulled back, a thin red line appeared on her cheek and a small amount of blood soon oozed from the cut.

Elizabeth writhed and struggled slightly, surprised by the sudden sting; Pride responded by tightening its grip on her, which only served to make her scream from the pain. The Homunculus silenced her by tightening its grip around her throat until she quieted. She slumped forward again as soon as the creature released her, trying to catch her breath.

Lust folded her arms across her chest, ignoring all of this as she frowned and tilted her head to the side. "You both needed to be made aware that dying is not an option; your lives belong to us. So long as you understand that, you're free to go. You've played with them enough, haven't you, Envy?" The voluptuous Homunculus sounded bored, but she certainly did not sound sarcastic; she was genuinely asking if he was finished. Deep down, she was about as sadistic as her "brother" was. Lowering the hand that threatened the raven-haired girl, she allowed her deadly fingers to retract to normal size. As she did so, she approached the girl and Pride, stopping inches away from Elizabeth.

There she reached out with one hand and grabbed Steel Wing's chin, forcing deep blue eyes to meet near-crimson pink. Lust gave Edward a quick, icy glare, and then looked into the girl's eyes threateningly. "Always remember..._we let you live_." Her voice was low, just barely audible enough for both young State Alchemists to hear. Then she let Elizabeth's face go roughly before turning to leave. "Make sure you leave them breathing, Envy...Then make sure you leave them before Mustang and his little band of military puppets show up." She spoke softly before leaving with Gluttony.

Envy just nodded and left with Lust; he knew the Flame Alchemist wasn't far, and he didn't feel like taking on three military dogs at once. No matter how badly he wanted to play with the two young State Alchemists a little longer.

Seeing that Envy would be leaving and there was no more need to hold the girl hostage, Pride released Elizabeth and let her fall to the ground. She would not have been able to hold herself up, and fell rather roughly to the ground. By the time she was able to move her head to see where the shadowy creature had gone, Pride had vanished and left no trace; all that were left were real shadows.

Ed walked over to Elizabeth and helped her stand, glaring after the Homunculi, basically daring them to try anything. He would likely kill Envy if the monster came anywhere near them right now.

* * *

It took some time, but Lieutenant Hawkeye finally managed to find the place Elizabeth had once indicated to her as a potential hideout for the Homunculi. It looked like an old, abandoned warehouse on the outside, but apparently Steel Wing had stumbled upon something to lead her to believe this could be a potential "base" for them. "This is the place, sirs." Riza informed them, indicating the decrepit-looking building several meters away. Without another word, she checked her gun, and then awaited her orders or some plan of action. She began to wonder if it may have been wise to alert some sort of back-up...

Roy nodded slightly and looked over to Hawkeye, "Our main goal is to find Edward and Elizabeth…"

Alina nodded slightly. "If anyone tries to stop us, I'll handle them; you two find Fullmetal and Steel Wing. Let's go." She said before taking off her gloves. She hated doing it, she hated people seeing the scars on the back of her hands but she had to. She narrowed her eyes and walked into the warehouse before beginning to open some of the doors one by one, as did Mustang.

Lieutenant Hawkeye entered the warehouse right behind the Colonel, ready to shoot if needed.

It seemed the kidnappers had already left, and they found Edward and Elizabeth alone in one of the back rooms of the near-abandoned warehouse. Roy was the one to find them. "Lizzy!" He exclaimed before running over to her and helping Edward lift her. "We're taking you to the hospital." The blonde woman put her gun away, but kept it easily accessible just in case it was needed.

When Elizabeth shook her head weakly, Riza frowned. "Don't be stubborn; it's not a question-you need immediate medical attention." Elizabeth had obviously suffered some serious injuries, internal and external alike. Her face was pale, and she could barely keep her eyes open.

"I don't know what you're talking about," She muttered sarcastically. "I've never felt better-" Her playfulness was cut short when she coughed and blood flew from her mouth. She tried to hide it by bringing her hand up to her mouth, but it was too late. The motion jarred her forward, and she nearly slipped from Ed and Roy's grips. Trying to stop herself from falling, she grabbed at one of the males' shoulders with her right hand without thinking. This caused shooting pain from her broken wrist, and she gritted her teeth and fought back a cry of pain. Blood was dripping from the corner of her mouth, and her breathing was labored. "Y-yeah, okay...Y...you win..." She mumbled once the pain throughout her body had subsided enough to allow her to speak.

Alina walked in behind Roy and Hawkeye, glancing at Edward. "What did they say?"

Ed glanced over at her in return before responding. "They don't want us dying…that was really it."

Major General Stryker nodded, and then turned and walked behind the three of them as they led Steel Wing out to sure she didn't fall. She did not really know the two Alchemists, she rarely ever saw them, but that did not mean she didn't care. Alina looked over to Roy, directing her words at him as she spoke. "I'll do the paper work on this one; you just stay with your cousin."

Roy nodded slightly. "Thank you, sir…" He mumbled before continuing to walk.

Alina then looked over to Hawkeye. "I don't suppose you could commandeer us a car..? She doesn't look like she'd last a walk."

Edward looked over at the brunette; he really wasn't sure what to think about the Major General. She seemed nice enough, but she kind of seemed like a serious hard-ass at times…

As they spoke, Roy was distracted and hardly listening; he really worried about his cousin. She was obviously struggling with staying on her feet. He glanced over to Edward before moving slightly and scooping Elizabeth up completely in his arms so she did not have to walk at all; they could move much faster this way, as well.

Edward glared slightly; if he stilled did not have a few sore muscles from his own run-in with Envy, he would have done that himself...

Lieutenant Hawkeye nodded after she had been spoken to, drawing her gun without another word. The next civilian driver that came along had the unfortunate experience of having a gun pointed at them. When they pulled over-basically only because they recognized the military uniforms of their country-the older gentleman stared at the Lieutenant, confused. Then he saw the raven-haired girl who did not look well. "Is she alright?" He asked. Hawkeye ignored him for the most part and gave him instructions while holstering her gun. "We need to commandeer your vehicle temporarily. We need a ride to the nearest hospital." The driver nodded and motioned to them to get into the car.

Elizabeth groaned softly when Roy picked her up; whether it was out of pain or embarrassment was difficult to say, and she would never tell-honestly, it could have been a little of both. She wrapped her arms around Roy's neck weakly and laid her head on his shoulder. Her breathing was shallow and labored, and it was obviously becoming a fight for her to keep her eyes from closing. "Roy...I don't want to go..." Her voice was raspy and barely above a whisper. She was hardly even aware of what she was saying at this point; she had lost so much blood. Her body was weak, and she felt like she was slipping. And she was... Within moments of speaking, Lizzy's eyes lost their fight, closed, and her body fell totally limp in Roy's arms.

"I know Lizzy, but…you're going." He whispered, kissing her forehead before getting into the car. Still holding her, he stared at the floor of the car, barely keeping his composure.

Alina waved her hand. "Go ahead, I'll meet you there." She said smiling some. There was no room for her in the vehicle anyway.

Hawkeye climbed into the front passenger seat, giving Fullmetal and Mustang the back, knowing Roy was not going to let his cousin go anyway. She turned to their superior officer, and then nodded when they were given the go-ahead to leave without her.

Edward got in the car and looked at the lifeless form of Elizabeth; he was worried sick.

Roy looked over to him. "She'll be fine." He said when he saw the look on the blond boy's face.

"Drive." Riza ordered the civilian. Then they were off.

* * *

Once they reached the hospital, Hawkeye jumped out and ran around to open the door for Mustang so he would not have to struggle while holding Elizabeth. She thanked the driver, who offered to stick around and give them a ride anywhere else they may need to go. Hawkeye thanked him again, but declined; it was not likely they would be going anywhere for a while.

In the meantime, Mustang walked in and flagged down one of the nurses, who immediately took Elizabeth on a gurney and into the OR.

As soon as she was finished, the Lieutenant followed the young men inside and sat down beside them in the waiting room. Ed and Roy were both staring at the ground in silence, absolutely wracked with worry. Roy may have said that she would be fine, but he wasn't sure...They sat in silence, waiting for any kind of news regarding Lizzy's well-being…


	8. Chapter 8: Guilt Over a Sleeping Girl

It was several hours before a doctor came out into the waiting room. Nurses had come and gone, thanking them for waiting and telling them how much longer it could be, but none ever seemed to come with any real information. The doctor approached them with a somber look on his face. "She's out of surgery and is being moved to her own room now. You'll all be able to go visit her shortly, but she needs to rest. It's unlikely she'll wake up for another hour or two, at least, but as long as she's not disturbed..." He looked around at the three who had come in with her and been waiting for her. It was obvious they were very worried about her, and for good reason. "You can go see her now." Then he turned to go about his business. He wanted to at least allow them to see her before he talked to her superior officer about her condition.

Alina had arrived at the hospital and stood beside Riza, staring forward, not saying a word when the doctor talked. She nodded slightly, before ultimately staying in the lobby while everyone else went to go see Steel Wing.

Roy, Edward and Hawkeye walked toward her room slowly. Steel Wing had been given her own room, as the doctor said; not necessarily because she was a State Alchemist, but mostly because of the severity of her injuries. She was hooked up to an IV, as well as a mask over her nose and mouth which was attached to a machine that would help her breathe until she woke up. Her right wrist was in a splint, as well as part of her left leg, and much of her torso was covered in bandages, though these were concealed by her hospital gown. Her left arm had been left untouched; it was slightly damaged from being torn off, and would likely need to be fixed up by an actual mechanic once she had healed enough she could handle it.

Edward sat down next to her, gently grabbing her hand; he did not seem care Roy was there.

Roy glanced over to him and sighed slightly. He could tell she and Edward had something and he didn't care. He knew he would act like he did, though. But the truth was, of anyone in the world, he would rather have Fullmetal with his cousin then anyone… He shut his eyes slightly as he gently placing a gloved hand on her forehead… He was so worried about her…more than he wanted to be; he was her superior, he was supposed to be composed…

Edward kept holding her hand, staring at the ground. He was visibly upset. "I shouldn't have let her go alone. "

"Shut up, Fullmetal, this isn't your fault." Roy mumbled.

Riza had followed Roy and Edward into the raven-haired girl's hospital room, but she hung back and stood near the window. She was as worried as they were, but she was especially sensitive to Mustang's need to be near the girl.

After giving all of them some time to at least see the patient, the doctor came into the room. He beckoned Colonel Mustang into the hall so they could talk privately, unaware they were related and he was actually speaking to her only remaining blood relation. Once they were far enough into the hall and the door was closed so they could speak privately, the doctor began. "I can't say whether the news is good or bad at this point, sir. We've done what we can for now, but only the next few hours will tell us if it was enough. I'll send a nurse in periodically to check on her." His expression turned to one of disapproval. "She took quite the beating. So young." He muttered as he shook his head, then saluted somewhat bitterly and turned to leave again, leaving the Colonel to return to her side.

Roy stared at the doctor in silence. Finally he nodded before sinking back into the room. He decided not to tell anyone what he had just heard, he just stayed silent. His bangs shadowing his saddened eyes; he blamed himself-he never should have left her side, he should have stayed with her.

Edward was feeling the same way. He should have told her to get over it and he was going with her with she liked it or not, he blamed himself completely for this, and he was quite sure nothing would change his mind.

Alina was suddenly in the room, leaning against the door, staring at both of them as she shook her head. "You know it's not any of your faults, it's Envy's, that's it. So stop blaming yourselves, because you really think that's what she's going to want to see when she first wakes up?"

Lieutenant Hawkeye looked as though she had been about to say something, but Major General Stryker took the words right out of her mouth. Well, perhaps not verbatim, but close enough, and the higher-ranking officer perhaps said it better and with more authority. After that, the room sank into uncomfortable silence...

* * *

Elizabeth Leone, the Steel Wing Alchemist, did not awaken after an hour or so as the doctor had said she would. She did not even awaken after a day or two. It had been nearly two weeks, and the raven-haired girl had barely shown any signs of life, save the machines indicating she was still alive and the fact she was breathing. When her cousin, her only family, Colonel Roy Mustang was forced to leave her side because of work, and her best friend Edward Elric had to in order to rest, Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye kept watch over her. And occasionally Jean Havoc, or Breda, or one of Mustang's other friends/subordinates took turns; she had always liked them, anyway. It was eerie how still she was during that time, and when it got too quiet, they would talk to her. It gave them a sense of comfort, perhaps.

At some point while the Colonel was there, her doctor pulled him aside and spoke to him again. Their relation was a well-kept secret in the military, and the poor physician did not know any better. He informed the raven-haired man of her injuries in further detail: "When you brought her in, her injuries were severe; it was very touch-and-go for a while. She has a broken wrist, broken ribs, the bones in her leg are bruised, and she is suffering from much internal bleeding...never mind all the cuts on her face and throughout her body. We did everything we could and patched her up fairly well; she should pull through just fine. A full recovery will take some time, but she _should_ recover... But..." The doctor hesitated to finish his thought. "Well, she should have woken up within an hour or two of her surgery, as I said. It's as though her heart's not in it. Forgive me if I'm out of line, here, but...the girl seems to have lost her will to live." The poor doctor assumed he was merely speaking to the unconscious girl's superior; he still had no idea he was speaking to her only living family. It had to have been devastating news...

Elizabeth knew of and cared about none of it; she spent her unconsciousness reliving memories. Many of them were unpleasant: losing her siblings, and worst of all, Envy rubbing it in. Envy occupied much of her consciousness, changing into Edward and Roy and telling her they never loved her, in fact, they hated her. After a while, she began to believe it was them saying it, and not Envy merely disguised as them. This certainly affected her will to live, and her desire to wake up. But after nearly two long weeks, something finally changed.

Riza was in the girl's hospital room, doing paperwork while keeping watch and keeping the girl company. It was nearly the end of another long day waiting for her to awaken; the sun had almost set to mark the end of it. She heard something that caused her to look up from what she was doing quickly, and she saw Elizabeth's eyes flutter open. She dropped her pen and stood, forgetting the papers instantly. Lizzy was trying to pull the mask from her face with her weakened left arm and groaning sleepily. "Here, let me help you with that..." Riza murmured gently, and took the mask off for her.

Elizabeth looked up at her, still dazed. "Thanks..." She whispered. She looked around, trying to figure out where she was and how she got there. Hawkeye disappeared for a second, and then came back into Lizzy's line of vision quickly-she had summoned a nurse and asked her to call Fullmetal, his brother, and the Colonel and tell them Steel Wing was awake. "H-how...? Where...?" It was still hard for her to speak, but the Lieutenant was smart enough to answer her questions without her really having to ask them.

"You're in the hospital. We brought you here after we found you in the warehouse, remember?" When Elizabeth shook her head, she sighed-there was a hint of an understanding smile. "The doctor said your memory could take a while to come back. You've...been unconscious for a while..."

* * *

As soon as he got the call, Roy was on his way in an instant. He had been in the middle of a conversation with Alina, but she understood and waved him off before reclining back in her chair.

* * *

Elizabeth could tell Riza was holding back, avoiding telling her exactly how long she had been "gone." Had it really been that long? She furrowed her brow and spoke with some effort. "How...long...How long was I out?" She watched as Hawkeye pursed her lips, glanced away, then back into her eyes. The older blonde woman was about to tell her, though reluctantly, but they were interrupted when Roy came in.

The Flame Alchemist walked into her room, looking as composed as ever, as if he did not just ditch his superior officer and practically run here, he sighed slightly. "Lizzy, I…" He whispered softly before walking over to her smiling some. "I'm so happy you're okay." He whispered leaning down kissing her forehead softly.

At first Elizabeth did not look away from the Lieutenant, but when he began to speak, she finally looked up at her cousin. She was certainly happy to see him, and to be honest, she wanted to hug him very badly. But not only was her wrist broken and her other arm weak, more than that, her eyes looked conflicted for a split second. It only became worse when Edward came into the room. Part of her wished she could jump out of her bed and throw her arms around him; but the rest of her was terribly confused.

Edward and Alphonse both came running into the room, they, however did not look as composed as the Colonel did, they. At least Edward looked like they had just run there at full speed. He was leaning on his knees and breathing heavily, but after a moment he slowly stood up straight and walked over to her to stand beside her bed. "Lizzy, I was so worried…" He said softly, looking into her blue eyes.

Riza watched her, just as confused, if not more. Why did Lizzy not look happier to see them? Her eyes had shown her relief at first, but the girl was not smiling, and she looked confused. At first Hawkeye was afraid she did not recognize them and her memory loss was worse than anticipated. But at last the girl spoke, and it was a relief-sort of.

"...Can I talk to Al alone, please?" Her voice was soft and a little weak, but there was no doubt about the words she had just spoken.

Riza was shocked, and she nearly showed it; but she would likely be the first to acknowledge and follow the newly-awoken girl's request. She moved to take her leave of the room for the moment and wait outside, slowing slightly to see the other two young men did the same.

Roy followed Riza out; he was not about to argue with his cousin, but when he saw Edward take a breath of air to argue back, he glanced back slightly. "Fullmetal, this is an order: leave this room, now." He then left himself…

Edward blinked and glared slightly; normally he would not have cared about an order, but…he glanced back at Elizabeth. He actually looked hurt, but he finally nodded and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

It was an alarming request, but they seemed to listen just the same. Edward had a hard time accepting it, but Elizabeth glanced out the window quickly, not wanting to see the look on his face. She might have doubts or change her mind, and she could not let that happen right now. Once Elizabeth heard the door close and she was sure she and Alphonse were alone, the raven-haired girl turned her deep blue gaze on the younger Elric brother.

Alphonse tilted his head slightly, "What is it, Beth...? " He asked softly. "I mean, it's not often you just want to talk to me…but you know, you had us all worried…"

The look in her eyes softened slightly, and a weak smile tugged at her lips. "I know; I'm sorry." She murmured. _Focus_, she had to remind herself. _Don't hesitate-out with it!_ She took a deep breath, and her next words just tumbled out. "Al, do you think it would be better if I left again?" As soon as she asked it, it felt like a stupid question; she could not exactly go anywhere, now, or even when she had had time to heal. "What I mean is..." She made a disgruntled sound and then was quiet for a moment as she thought through her next words more carefully. "You and Ed have always looked out for one another. You know him better than anyone, Al... Was he...was he better off without me around?" Her voice was weak, and she could not bring herself to look at him. Instead she stared at her lap and allowed her onyx bangs to cast a shadow over her eyes. These questions were not merely out of left field-they were triggered by something specific...

Alphonse stared at her; he was silent for a few seconds before he shook his head. "No, Ed has been so much happier with you around, he has a look of happiness in his eyes he hasn't had in a long time." He whispered softly. "What would make you think that?" But as he asked the question he stopped, remembering who had done this to her. "It was Envy wasn't it? You can't let him get to you Beth, you just can't! Edward needs you here…I need you here; we both missed you so much." He whispered tilting forward at the helmet of the suit of armor he inhabited to stare at the floor. "And what would Colonel Mustang do if you left? You know he'd be hurt, and then hunt you down…" He whispered softly; he was hurt that she would even ask that. "We were all so worried..." He said again. "And if you left, I just…I'm not sure what would happen."

Elizabeth felt relieved as soon as Al pushed away her fears, telling her they all wanted her around, not just Edward. She knew he would never lie to her, but there was still fear tugging at her heart. Midnight blue eyes looked away quickly when he asked her why, and she visibly flinched at the mention of the Homunculus who had put her here and left her in the condition she was currently in. "N-no...I mean, I'm not sure..."

Blue vanished behind eyelids for a moment, then reappeared looking genuinely confused. "I can hardly tell who actually said it anymore..." She mumbled her voice barely audible. Then she sighed and allowed her head to fall back against her pillow. "It's not like I could take off if I wanted to, okay?" Lizzy finally turned her head to look up at Alphonse again, and she was trying to give him a light-hearted smile. "Please don't worry about me so much. I'm fine. And I promise not to go anywhere...deal?" She held out her metallic left arm in order to shake hands with the large suit of armor inhabited by the soul of one of her best friends. She smiled while she said it, and Lizzy seemed to be returning to her old self.

"I'm just confused from being asleep for so long. How long was I out, any-?" There was a loud, sudden sound from somewhere within her left arm. Her eyes widened as the appendage suddenly fell limp and useless. She could not bring herself to look down, and she was rendered speechless; she was too shocked at what had just happened. All color drained from her face as only one thought occupied her mind: she was going to have to call Winry Rockbell to repair her busted automail arm. And she was going to have to do it quickly, because now both her arms were basically useless.

Alphonse nodded slightly, before looking at the ground before he was about to reach for her, when he saw her arm fall. "Beth…?" He whispered before walking over to her tilting his head. "Do…you want me to call Winry? She might yell at me less." He said softly, tilting his head to the side slightly, rubbing the back of his head.

Tears streamed comically from Elizabeth's eyes and she stared straight ahead, zoning out for a moment. "I'm going to die. She's going to kill me. I survived that bastard, Envy, only to die at the hands of that mecha-otaku..." She mumbled to herself, rocking back and forth slowly with a look of fear and horror in her eyes. Elizabeth could only imagine the look on Winry's face when the blonde girl saw the damages. It would not matter that the raven-haired girl was not at fault; all Winry would see would be the fact she was going to have to rebuild the arm almost completely from scratch because of the nerve damage.

Lizzy finally turned her head slowly to look up at Al. "I don't know if it will really make a difference...You don't have to, Al. I-I'll handle it." She did not look confident, and though she was trying, she did not sound it either. In the end, she would likely end up sucking it up and calling the blonde mechanic anyway.

After a few more minutes Edward came barging in. "I'm done waiting, I haven't seen you in weeks, and I'm not going to just sit outside and-!" He stopped, staring at her. "Please don't tell me we have to call Winry…" He mumbled, staring at her with a fearful look on his face. He did not want a head injury, not again.

The raven-haired girl's head snapped up when Edward came barging into the room. She looked as though she was about to yell at him, but stopped. She could see the worry in his eyes and not about having to call Winry-it had been there before he had realized her arm was busted.

Mustang walked in and glared. "I was planning on calling the Rockbells either way, Winry should check on her arm, especially now that it doesn't work, and they deserve to know her condition." He grumbled, before glaring at Edward. "And she asked us to leave."

Lizzy sighed loudly, and then fell back against her pillow again. "Whatever. You're all in here now anyway...I guess Al and I were done talking. Right, Al?" She turned and smiled at him, but her smile was somehow secretly chilling; as though she were warning him not to tell anyone about their conversation, especially not Ed…or else.

Alphonse sweat-dropped and nodded. "Of course we were…Eh—heheh…" He affirmed before slowly backing away.

Lieutenant Hawkeye was standing behind the Colonel, but went for the phone almost as soon as Roy mentioned calling. "The sooner the better." And when she saw the look of dread on Roy's cousin's face: "I'll call Winry. You can't use your hands anyway, right?"

Elizabeth looked down at her useless appendages and seemed to pout. "...Oh, yeah." She grumbled.

Edward just sat in the corner, hiding his head, "She'll kill me too I'm sure, because she always does, so we can die together, Lizzy." He mumbled staring at the wall, his golden eyes locked onto it.

Roy rolled his eyes. "You two are pathetic." He mumbled, before looking over to Riza leaning against the wall near her shutting his eyes. The Colonel had not been sleeping well since his cousin had been in a coma. By not sleeping well, he had almost not slept at all in the last two weeks. As he was leaning against the wall, he started to drift off, but shook his head before looking over at his two subordinates. "You two…I swear, she's not even military, and you're more afraid of her then you are of me. I must say, it's a little insulting." He said before yawning some.

Without waiting any longer, Lieutenant Hawkeye made the call. She sounded pleasant enough, and as Elizabeth listened closely, she did not hear any yelling coming from the other end of the phone. But that made it difficult for her to hear what Winry was saying, or really a tone of voice. She closed her eyes and sighed again when Edward mentioned dying together. "Yeah..." She muttered, then opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. There were so many memories she had yet to make, so many things she still wanted to do...she was not ready to die.

When her cousin spoke, she turned her head to look at him and narrowed her eyes. She opened her mouth to protest at being called pathetic, but shut it as soon as it registered how exhausted he looked. He was almost falling asleep standing up... "It just means you're a big softie." She commented quickly with a sly grin. Then she tilted her head and frowned. Her brow furrowed, and her expression became one of worry and guilt. "Roy, you should sleep." Normally she would have added an insulting comment to tease him, but she felt too guilty to do so this time. She had been unconscious for a long time, and even Al had said she had made them worry. Had Mustang lost sleep over her, she wondered? The raven-haired girl wanted him to stay with her and reassure her of so many things, but she was not about to say so; especially not when he was so visibly tired.

Roy smirked. "Perhaps I should be harder on you two then." He said with a small yawn again, when he heard the other part, he shook his head and waved his hand. "No. No, I'm fine." He lied, he really was tired beyond comprehension, but he wanted to be there for his cousin, after all his lack of sleep was because he was so worried about her. He walked over to her before gently running a hand on her head kissing her forehead. "I'm glad you're okay…I really am." He whispered before turning away facing Riza now as he yawned once more, his eyes started to drift shut but he shut his eyes and shook if off.

Elizabeth's brow furrowed again and she resumed staring at her cousin in a worried manner. She knew him better than that. She leaned into his touch some when she felt his hand on her head, but after he leaned to kiss her forehead, she looked up at him with concern. "Roy, don't make me tell Miss Riza." She whispered back; she loved and worried about her cousin, even if it was hard for her to say it-she was apparently better at showing it, whether she was aware that was what she was doing or not.

Shortly after she spoke, Hawkeye hung up the phone and stood beside the Colonel, waiting for permission to speak. As soon as it was given, she directed the information more so at Lizzy. "Winry's glad you're alright, but wants to fix your arm as soon as possible so you have at least some mobility. She said she'll be on her way as soon as possible; her train should arrive tomorrow." Elizabeth's face paled a little. "'Tomorrow'? O-oh...okay. I guess I've lived a full-enough life..." She was half joking, but she still grimaced.

Edward was in the corner, he was joking too. Winry would never actually kill them, but it sure felt like it a lot. He slowly stood and gently gripped her fleshed hand with his looking into her eyes smiling slightly, his golden optics locked onto her…

Elizabeth's gaze turned to Edward as he approached her bedside. She squeezed his hand weakly in return, and the gesture brought a small smile to her lips. She winced when she felt a strong twinge of pain from her broken wrist, then blushed and looked away quickly. The raven-haired, blue-eyed girl reluctantly released her own grip on his hand, suddenly embarrassed. She cleared her throat and tried to find something more interesting to look at, but that was nearly impossible with Edward in the room. If she was not careful, the rest of the world might fall away, leaving only the two of them. It was only too easy for her to get lost in his unique, golden eyes. She almost forgot Roy was in the room...likely watching their every move.

Roy was not stupid; he had begun to notice the way Fullmetal looked at his cousin, and the way his cousin looked at Fullmetal…He was shocked he was though; he was usually pretty dense when it came to that type of thing. Even if they had not realized any feelings beyond rivalry and friendship, he saw something there.

Riza Hawkeye glanced at her superior officer, already aware of his exhaustion, but waiting for the right time. "Encouraging him" to sleep and leave his cousin now might not be the best timing...not yet, anyway. But she was not unaware in the least bit.

"I'm fine." He whispered to his cousin before Colonel Mustangs gaze turned to watching Edward's hand like a hawk, if his hand moved somewhere he didn't like, he was going to flip, slip his gloves on and snap, both literally and figuratively. His dark blue eyes stayed locked on the blonde with an incredibly sleepy glare.

Ed looked over and sweat-dropped; something about the sleepy look in his eye along with the glare made him even more threatening than usual. He slowly let her go but stayed near her bed, he knew Mustang was tired, and part of him really wished the stubborn Flame Alchemist would just sleep, but he knew it was not likely to happen. He knew there was only one person in the whole world more stubborn than Roy to make him listen, but he also knew she always had the perfect timing with telling the stubborn ass what to do. So he just grinned and looked away.

Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye crossed her arms behind her back and sighed quietly. "Colonel, sir, I think Elizabeth is right. You do seem rather exhausted, and you won't be of much help to anyone if you don't get some sleep. Edward and I can watch over her for a few hours, can't we, Fullmetal?" She gave Ed a look which said more than she had out loud: she was doing this to help more than just Roy Mustang. But he was still to be on his best behavior and be the perfect gentleman, or there would be consequences.

Roy just stared at her; he looked like he was about to disagree, but instead he nodded. He knew better than to disagree with his Lieutenant. "Alright, fine." He mumbled before leaving the room and heading outside to a waiting car. He got in and shut his eyes, almost instantly falling asleep. The second he was home, the man driving the car woke him up before Roy stood and wandering into his room passing out on his bed within seconds.

* * *

Elizabeth turned her head to watch this exchange between the Lieutenant and her cousin. She was always baffled and in awe when Riza stood up to Roy and put him in his place with little more than a few words of unquestionable logic. Not to mention it was also incredibly amusing.

Ed was still standing beside her in silence, he had been so worried about her he was happy she was mostly okay…His bangs shadowed his face before he finally turned and leaned down gently brushing his lips against her forehead. "I'm glad you're okay." He did not even care that the Lieutenant was there.

Lieutenant Hawkeye did not show it, but she was relieved when Roy Mustang gave in and left to go home and sleep. She stayed for a few moments longer, to make sure Mustang was gone and would not be popping back in. Then she excused herself while shooting Edward one final warning look, claiming she was going to take care of a few things; she would be back "soon," when in actuality she intended to give them a little bit of time alone. She asked Alphonse to go with her, but once outside the room she apologized and asked him to guard the door for her. "Please make sure no one suspicious tries to enter her room."

Then she left him with a password, a code to be certain it was actually her when she returned. She knew he would understand the precautions because of Envy, even though it was almost two weeks later and there had not been another incident. She also knew he would understand giving the two young State Alchemists some time alone, and likely supported her "scheming." Once everything was in order, she made her way down the hall and to the guests' quarters to get some work she had left there done. This way they could be alone, but the Lieutenant would not be far away in case she was needed.

Elizabeth was glad her cousin had given in and gone home to sleep. It was a relief to know he was resting, and a bit of a relief to finally have a little time alone with Edward. At the same time, however, she was nervous about being alone with him merely because she was not entirely certain how to act around him now. Her cheeks flushed when his lips touched her skin, but she closed her eyes and accepted the gesture easily enough. With no one around now to act as a distraction, it was all too easy for the room to melt away, leaving only her and Edward. "I...am too." She murmured, blushing lightly.

Edward smiled slightly as she kissed him back; he nuzzled into her forehead with his, smiling some. "And I promise I won't let Winry do anything to you." He whispered, smiling lightly. He had been so worried, but he was at least able to sleep, after all, he had dealt with worse. He sighed slightly. "You should rest, before she gets here I mean…" He said standing, before walking to the wall leaning against it shutting his eyes. "Just a thought, you're not going to want to be tired when she's here…" He whispered before his bangs shadowed his face, his amber eyes watering just slightly, but he was hiding it from her, and quite well at that. He had heard a lot of what she had said to Al, he was too nosy for his own good, and on top of that he knew Envy messed with her mind, badly. His eyes were still locked on the ground; he knew he shouldn't but he had been blaming himself for the past few weeks.

Elizabeth's cheeks flushed an even deeper shade of red as Edward nuzzled her, but again she returned the gesture, albeit bashfully. "I know... I'm not worried. Winry will understand." She laughed nervously, not actually as certain of what she said as she tried to appear. Winry would likely be very upset over Lizzy's condition and the damages to the blonde's precious automail work. Death was an extreme assumption, though, and an unlikely one. Blue eyes met Edward's again and the raven-haired girl tilted her head slightly to one side. "I still don't know how long I was out..." She smiled nervously now. "Haven't I slept enough, though?" Then she forced a laugh. She was trying to be light-hearted about the situation, but she was not trying to make light of the amount of worry she had obviously caused. Elizabeth sighed softly, nestling into her pillow. "...I guess you're right." She murmured softly, and then reluctantly closed her eyes.

They shot open within seconds, and she turned her head to look over at where Edward was leaning against the wall. She opened her mouth to speak, and then shut it quickly. Steel Wing turned her head towards the window, away from Ed, and tried to hide the tears in her eyes. She wanted to ask him to stay by her side, to perhaps even try to get him to lie beside her and keep her company-no, even hold her until she fell asleep. But after what had happened in that warehouse a couple of weeks ago, and the dreams she had been having almost the entire time she had been unconscious, she was afraid. Afraid to ask him for anything and almost afraid she wasn't actually in the company of her childhood friends and family, but instead this was all some trick by the Homunculi to continue to torment her...

Edward still had the water in his eyes…he was hurting, he had been so worried about her, and now she was being so distant, finally He looked up at her, his amber optics still having the tears in his eyes. "You can't let him get to you." He whispered. "You can't; if you do you'll never live it down, it'll stay in your head forever." He said before looking back at the ground, staying silent again.

* * *

There was a gentle knock on the door that Riza was behind; a small smile spread on the chestnut-haired female's lips as she walked in. "Lieutenant Hawkeye." Alina said walking next to her, tilting her head. "How's Steel Wing? I heard she's woken up." She said, still smiling slightly. She was glad to know that Elizabeth was okay. She had been worried as well; she did not know her well but she still cared.

Lieutenant Hawkeye lifted her head at the sound of a knock at the door of the room she was staying in. She bid the person doing the knocking to enter, then stood quickly and saluted respectfully when she saw who it was. "Major General Stryker." She greeted in a stiff manner. She relaxed slightly when asked about the young, injured State Alchemist. "She has woken up." She confirmed. "She's...managing." She added hesitantly. "She hasn't been awake for long. Fullmetal is with her now. The Colonel is at home resting at Steel Wing's request, and my...encouragement." Then she sighed softly. "To be honest, sir, I'm not sure how she's really doing. It may be too soon to say, but she still seems a bit shaken up..." Perhaps it had something to do with both of them being women in power, or perhaps she really trusted the Major General. Whatever the reason, she felt somewhat comfortable being a little more truthful and divulging more personal information such as this to the other female.

Alina nodded slightly, she trust Riza too, but not enough to tell her about her own past, part of her wanted to go talk to the young alchemist and help her out, perhaps once she was sure she was awake and well enough to talk. Alina knew how it felt to have your past thrown back in your face, but she knew there were parts she would leave out, no one knew it, people rarely saw her scars, she always had her white gloves on hiding the scars. She looked at Riza nodded slightly. Alina looked down the hall. "That's good to hear, at least about her being awake, as to her…mental state, it doesn't surprise me. It would seem the few times we have all run into the Homunculi they tend to mess around with our heads. When she is finished resting, would you please call me? There are a few things I need to talk to her about." She said softly, before smiling saluting the blonde before turning away. "And I'm glad the Colonel is sleeping, I know he hadn't been doing that much."

Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye nodded and respectfully saluted her superior officer. "Yes sir." She would be sure to call the Major General as soon as Lizzy was feeling better, is what she was agreeing to. She certainly concurred about the reason behind the uncertainty about the girl's mental state. She had witnessed the effects of the Homunculi's torment-she was seeing it now in Steel Wing's change in demeanor. A tiny smile tugged at Riza's lips at Alina's understanding in regards to Mustang's need for rest. He had spent so much time worrying over his cousin in the previous weeks; he had not rested much, and was understandably exhausted. This had caused her to worry about him, so she was relieved he was finally resting. "Yes sir." She repeated, this time more gently...

* * *

Elizabeth clenched her jaw and continued to stare fixedly out the window. She knew her childhood friend was right, but she could not help her thoughts. Envy had planted a seed of doubt in her mind, and she could not seem to shake her fears. But for the time-being, she said nothing. Instead, she closed her eyes and tried to force herself to fall asleep. After a while, it finally began to work as exhaustion from her injuries took over.

Edward stayed silent; as she slept he walked over to her and kissed her forehead before sitting on the floor at the wall shutting his eyes starting to fall asleep himself.


	9. Chapter 9: A Dark Past Revealed

Later in the evening, a hush had fallen over the hospital, one a person could expect during a certain time of night when all the patients were fast asleep and there was a lull in hospital "traffic." Lieutenant Hawkeye was asleep in the guests' quarters, Edward Elric was presumably resting beside Elizabeth Leone's hospital bed, and Lizzy herself was fast asleep. Something awoke her from the deep sleep she had fallen into, however, some sound nearby. She opened her eyes slowly, and as she tried to blink the blurry sleepiness from her eyes, she realized Ed was standing over her. She opened her mouth to speak, but she was so tired, no sound came out. She looked around, trying to wake up, and suddenly became aware of Roy standing on the other side of her bed. They were staring at her, and it was making her somewhat uncomfortable.

"What? What's wrong?" She asked groggily. All of a sudden she was unable to speak, let alone breathe. It felt as though her airway was being cut off. She had no way of moving her arms to grasp at her throat, and as she struggled to breathe, she saw the source. One of her sisters was standing beside Edward, and her hands were around Elizabeth's throat, choking her. Elizabeth began writhing and struggling, trying to twist out of her grip, but it was no use. She could not breathe, and Ed and Roy just stood there, watching. Tears welled in the corners of her eyes, but she did not want to cry, not now.

The machines around her hospital bed beeped loudly, alerting the nurses to her distress. Several rushed into her room, quickly surrounding her bed and trying to find the source of her problem while one ushered Ed out of the way and out of the room temporarily until they could successfully help her. Nothing was obstructing her airway, but she was not breathing. The young girl seemed to be having some kind of nightmare causing her stress and preventing her from breathing properly. They tried some CPR, placed a mask over her nose and mouth again to help her breath, and gave her a sedative to relax her. Within moments it worked, and without waking up for a moment, Elizabeth sank into a deep, dreamless sleep. Edward, Roy, and her sister vanished, and she saw nothing but black and remembered nothing of the rest of the night...

Ed was not thrilled about being pushed out of the way; he knew he would be able to calm her down better then these stupid hospital employees. Edward just stood out in the hall with a glare in his amber eyes. Not to mention he fell asleep, and they had awoken him since he was in the way. He just kept glaring, once they finished he pushed right through them walking over to her and gently grabbing her hand tightly, leaning down kissing her forehead softly. He knelt down and stayed on the ground beside her, still holding her hand tightly but not tight enough to hurt her. He stared at the ground, leaning against the bed and slowly shutting his eyes once more. He was dead tired, more so now since he had been woken up. His hand was still up on her bed, his bangs shadowing his eyes once more as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Roy finally wandered back to the hospital. He stretched his arms over his head before walking into the room Riza was in. Seeing her sleeping, he smiled slightly before walking down the hall to his cousin's room. There, he leaned against the wall beside Alphonse Elric, staring forward and not saying a word for a few minutes before finally he asked, "How is she doing?" Alphonse looked over at the Colonel, and shook his head. "She just had a bit of a nightmare, I think…but the staff calmed her down."

* * *

Elizabeth finally stirred and slowly awoke the following afternoon. It was still early in the day, but judging by the light and position of the sun outside her window, it was some time after noon or one. Looking at the clock on one of the walls of her room sleepily, she saw she was correct. As she came around, she realized the oxygen mask had been placed over her nose and mouth again. Had something happened while she had been sleeping? She couldn't remember... Then as she wriggled her body slightly in an attempt to shift herself since she basically couldn't use her hands, and her flesh arm was all but useless, she realized Edward was beside her. As she looked down, she blinked slowly at the sight of his hand around hers. Her gaze softened, and she almost smiled. Then she laid her head back against her pillow again, closing her eyes for a short moment. After letting a quiet sigh pass her lips, the raven-haired girl groaned softly, wondering how she was going to get this annoying thing off her face without the use of her hands.

As she was thinking it, the mask was lifted from her face and off her head; Roy smiled down at his cousin. "I'm guessing you hate these as much as I do." He spoke quietly so he would not wake the sleeping blond, reaching out and brushing her bangs out of her face. He didn't bring up the nightmare Alphonse had told him about.

Midnight blue eyes that matched his looked up at the Colonel slowly and sleepily. Elizabeth blinked slowly, and then smiled gratefully as she looked up at her cousin. "Thanks..." She murmured, nodding.

"Also, Winry will be there in a few hours, the trains are running late today." Roy added before looking down at Ed, shaking his head some. He was not dense, but in all honesty, if Elizabeth ended up with anyone in the world, he would want it to be Fullmetal. Though he would never admit that, ever… "I'm going to go get Hawkeye. She hasn't been in here for a while; I'm sure she'll want to see you." He said before walking out of the room and toward the guests' quarters to wake up his Lieutenant.

Elizabeth smiled nervously and nodded again, acknowledging Winry's approximate arrival time. She wasn't sure she was looking forward to that time, but she had missed her friend.

As Roy looked down at Edward, she risked a glance as well. Her cheeks flushed slightly, thinking her family member would disapprove. But she was surprised when the raven-haired male instead spoke about going to get the Lieutenant, then left to do so. "Oh, alright." She said softly, looking a little baffled as well. After he left, she looked down at Edward again, wishing she could move her other arm to reach out and touch his head...

* * *

Roy walked in to his blonde Lieutenant's temporary quarters and tilted his head as he looked down at her. "Hawkeye," He whispered softly, since he was not sure if she was actually still asleep. He did not want to startle her; he knew that may be the last thing he ever did.

Lieutenant Hawkeye's eyes snapped open at the sound of her name. She did not appear caught off-guard, but she did look as though she had not suddenly awoken from sleep, but rather been resting her eyes for just a moment and opened them. Her hand had automatically moved towards the gun holstered at her side, but she had not drawn it. This hand moved away quickly and dropped to her side as she realized it was only her Colonel speaking. Letting her guard down a little, she stretched as discreetly as possible. "Sir? Is she awake?" She asked in her usual monotone, giving off an air of disinterest to anyone who did not know her and know how much she really cared about Mustang's cousin.

Roy nodded. "She is, she seems to be doing better physically, but mentally…I just…I don't know what to do…" He was really concerned for his cousin. He just wanted her to be okay; he knew Envy had gotten to her, and he hated that.

Lieutenant Hawkeye's face softened quite a bit when Colonel Mustang began to express his concern for his cousin. The younger female's obviously affected mental state after her run-in with the Homunculi was wearing on them all, but it seemed worst for two of the closest men in her life.

The Lieutenant decided it was a good time to speak up and do her best to give him some good advice, in the way only Riza Hawkeye seemed to do best. "Your paperwork seems to be all caught up, sir. It looks like you're going to have plenty of free time for a little while." She stood and walked past him, pausing to stretch her back discreetly again, and then continued for the door while her words and hidden meaning within them sank in.

"Elizabeth is very smart and mature for her age, but she's still a young girl." She added. "It may be easy to forget that at times, but no matter how strong she may seem on the outside, that strength is bound to give out a little eventually from time to time. And when it does, as adults, we need to be ready to catch her when she falls." She left the room, then backtracked and poked her head in to glare at Mustang pointedly. "Like you, Colonel, she's stubborn and good at hiding things-or thinks she is." Then she was gone, making her way down the hall to Lizzy's room.

Roy just stared at her before slowly nodded. "I know." He mumbled before walking after her, shutting his eyes and sighing. He hated that Hawkeye was always right; she always had such amazing advice and said the right thing at the right time. Giving him exactly the kick in the ass he needed. He sighed slightly and ran a hand through is hair, shutting his eyes, yawning slightly. He wasn't tired anymore, at least not physically. Roy knew Riza was right; the similarities he and his cousin had were ridiculous…

* * *

Edward moved slightly, and groaned before he sat up and stretched carefully. His back was killing him now from sleeping in the position he had. He stood and looked over at his friend and smiled sleepily. "How are you doing?"

Elizabeth glanced away quickly as Edward stirred and awoke, coming out of her daydream and strong desire to just reach out and touch him. She smiled gently, almost weakly at her blonde male friend. "I'm fine. I think I slept too much. How did you sleep?" She asked, tilting her head to one side in a show of curiosity.

Edward smiled some. "Well enough, I guess." He said before standing, leaning over her and kissing her forehead again. "I'm glad you seem to be doing better." He whispered staying close to her. His back was killing him, but he was quite good at hiding it; he smiled still looking into her blue eyes. He carefully sat on the edge of her bed, shutting his eyes again for a moment. He knew her mind was still messed up because of Envy, especially if her episode the night before was any indication; he just wished there was a way to help her forget about whatever he had done to her…

Elizabeth leaned forward as best as she could without the use of her arms, managing to sit up until her forehead could bump gently into Ed's. Her eyes were closed for a moment, and then they opened to gaze into his should he open his eyes again to look at her. "Ed, you couldn't have been comfortable sitting on the floor all night. Go get some sleep, will you?" Then she pulled away quickly, blushing at their closeness. "That wasn't really a question. Just go." She stuck her tongue out playfully, and then leaned back against her pillow again. Had she been able to move her arms, she might have shoved him playfully too for good measure. He may have been good at hiding his pain from others, but she had known him far too long not to notice the discomfort he was doing his best to hide.

Edward smiled some when he felt her forehead against his. "I'm alright, Lizzy, really. The floor wasn't too bad; I've slept in worse places." He said laughing slightly, before gently grabbing her hand again. "I'm not leaving you again..." He said with a determined and definitive nod.

* * *

On their way to Elizabeth's hospital room, the Lieutenant stopped at a nurse's station to call Major General Stryker. If Steel Wing was awake and doing well, at least physically, then perhaps it was a good time for her to receive some advice from someone outside her usual circle. The young female needed reassurance, and as much as possible, it seemed. Outside the young State Alchemist's room, the Lieutenant paused to knock on the door before simply walking in. She did not want to risk interrupting anything without warning.

Roy followed after Riza and stayed silent, listening as she spoke to the Major General over the phone. Mostly he allowed himself to get lost in thought, about his cousin and how he could possibly help her.

* * *

Elizabeth sighed softly when Edward refused to leave her side, even to rest. Deep down she was incredibly grateful for it, but it worried her somewhat. "But you're hurting, aren't you? You should rest-" She was perhaps about to suggest he even lay down beside her, but she hesitated. Then she was interrupted by a knock at the door, which caused her to look away and towards the portal. "Come in." She called, then blinked and blushed faintly when Riza Hawkeye entered.

* * *

A few minutes later, Alina walked in behind Roy and Riza and smiled slightly at the bed-ridden girl. "Steel Wing...It's good to see you're alright." However the second she looked into her eyes her smile faded, and she walked over to him looking at her. "Let me tell you something. Roy, Riza, Edward, Alphonse, you can stay if you'd like… "

Elizabeth looked up, somewhat surprised when she saw Major General Stryker standing in the doorway of her hospital room. "Ah-yes, thank you..." She mumbled, a little confused about why the young woman was there. They had only spoken to and even seen one another a few times, and did not know one another very well. Alina and Roy seemed to know one another better...was he needed for something? Was she going to make him leave? She appreciated the visit, though, assuming that was all this was. The appreciation in her eyes was genuine, but Alina must have seen her weakness because the older woman's demeanor seemed to change rather quickly.

Alina took a deep breath before she began. "Quite a few years ago, there was a little girl. Her whole life was forced into Alchemy; her parents were obsessed with it. Every day from dawn until dusk she was forced into helping them research the Philosopher's Stone. She never got her own time…She was physically and mentally abused every day, and she was never allowed to do what she wanted." Alina inhaled, she had never told anyone this…

"Then, one day, she refused to help them with Alchemy. She refused to draw the transmutation circle. She refused to help them with research…And that night after she fell asleep, she woke up in bonds, with her parents leering over her. She had no idea what was going on, until she felt a blade in the skin of the back of her hands…It dug into her and carved her flesh. All she could feel was pain and all she could see was red dripping off her fingers. Her parents made sure she'd never have to draw the Transmutation Circles again. After they were finished, they didn't help her to heal-they just left her there.

"After her hands healed they started up the abuse once more, only much worse. She never got a break. Finally she couldn't take it anymore. She snapped, and she killed her parents in cold blood. She didn't care they were gone, she was happy for once in her life; she was free. She left the small village and began to wander. She was found by a young man. He took care of her, talked her out of killing herself many times and made sure she wasn't hurt; made sure she was always safe. He was basically the older brother she never had…but even that couldn't last. She had to leave, and she got dragged into the military, she needed the money and she knew her Alchemy would assist her in becoming a State Alchemist. And also in helping the one person who saved her life. After a little while she was taken hostage, all she could remember was blackness and the sound of her parents' voices, taunting her, telling her things that she never wanted to hear again…"

"Once she escaped, for years that haunted her, until finally she realized...none of it was real, there was no way that would happen; she knew that, she knew she did what she had too. She just stopped caring about those voices…" Alina soon slipped off her gloves and held up the back of her hand so Elizabeth could see her scars. The Transmutation Circles her parents had cut into her flesh.

"If you keep letting Envy get to you…You'll never be okay...You'll walk around like a zombie for years, and you deserve better than that…Whatever he said to you, you have to know it wasn't true…everyone in this room loves you, and would never want to hurt you. What happened in the past is the past, there's nothing that can change that…You did everything you could and then some, so you have to push past his words, you have to ignore it …You don't want him to win, and I know that. You're a strong girl, Elizabeth, you have been through so much yet you continue to push past everything you've been through…don't let some sadistic bastard stop you."

Roy and Edward both just stared at Alina in silence. Roy had known her for years and had no idea about any of this…He was speechless, as was Edward, which was weird for the two male Alchemists. Finally, they slowly looked at Lizzy, hoping this would get through to her.

Lizzy looked taken aback when Alina began to speak, and the things she was talking about were shocking, to say the least. It was immediately apparent to the raven-haired girl that the Translucent Water Alchemist was talking about herself. The more she spoke, as she began to talk about the death of her parents, Elizabeth began trembling slightly. She kept it hidden fairly well, but her face was paling. Their situations were very different, but the violent-or at least unnatural-deaths their parents had experienced were too similar. A series of images flashed through Elizabeth's mind in a split second, then they were gone again before they could register-blood sounded familiar, though. She pushed it all away, though, closing a lid she had been keeping over her memories tightly again to listen to what the Major General was saying.

When the older female had finished speaking, Elizabeth was silent for several moments longer. She did not mean to stare, but she was gazing in shock at the scars on Alina's hands."I'm...I'm sorry..." She whispered suddenly, and then tried again to speak up a little. "I'm sorry about what happened to you, and...I'll try. I promise I'll try not to let him get to me anymore." Then she fell silent again, dropping her head to stare at her lap. She did not know what else to say, or what else she could say. She could feel everyone's eyes on her, so she was still hiding her slight trembling. With a few deep breaths, she felt her body relaxing, and finally her shaking had stopped. Elizabeth wasn't sure how quickly she was going to be able to just forget everything Envy had said and done to her under the guise of some of the closest people in her life. But as she had said, as she had promised, she was certainly going to try. She just needed reassurance, but there was no way she could possibly bring herself to ask for it. Elizabeth took a deep breath, and then sighed softly. She was going to power through this and move past it, even if she had to do so on her own-if not for herself, then for her friends and family.

"I know it's hard, but it's something you must do." She whispered. "Envy always does this and you being so hurt is just letting him win." She walked over to Elizabeth and put a hand on her head, smiling gently. "Trust me…I really do know how hard it is…I know it's one of the hardest things to do, but you're strong and I know you can do it." She whispered before slipping her gloves back on as she headed towards the door. "I'll leave you all alone, but when you get released, Steel Wing, I would like all of you in my office…" She said with a small smile. "No rush though; feel better, Elizabeth, if any of you need anything, don't hesitate to call." She whispered before shutting the door behind her.

Elizabeth nodded reluctantly, looking somewhat ashamed. She knew the Major General was right about letting the Homunculus win if she let what it did to her affect her like this. It was difficult to just brush things like that off when the Homunculus had attacked some of her worst insecurities and made her experience some of her deepest fears all over again. But as Alina said, she had to try her best to move past this and forget all about it. She was strong, but even she had her limits. "We'll be there. Thank you, sir." She murmured before Alina was gone.

Roy looked at her smiling some, he had known her for a while, but he had no idea what she went thought. "Thank you, Major General." He said before looking at Edward after the higher-ranking officer had closed the door.

Ed's eyes were locked on Lizzy; he really hoped that would help her more...it killed him to see her like this.

Elizabeth bit her bottom lip, staring at her lap once more. The Major General was gone, but she could still feel eyes on her. As she looked up, her cheeks reddened when she found Edward's amber eyes looking back at her. A faint smile formed on her lips, and she visibly relaxed; her whole demeanor seemed to change in an instant, and it was like there was no one else in the room except the two young Alchemists. "Hey...don't look at me like that. I'm fine, Ed. Okay? I'm fine." She whispered. If she could she would have reached out and touched his face, but there was no sense in even trying with her busted arm and broken wrist.

Suddenly, she was snapped out of her tunnel vision by the sound of Lieutenant Hawkeye speaking to Roy in an attempt to make this less awkward-or prevent Roy from attempting to embarrass the young pair, or worse. "Shall I send someone to fetch Miss Rockbell from the station, or would you like me to do so personally, sir?" She asked, trying to be a distraction. It was distracting, alright. Elizabeth's face turned an even deeper shade of red and she quickly looked away. Something outside her window was suddenly very interesting.

Ed just glared over to Riza and Roy for interrupting his moment with Lizzy, but as Riza brought up Winry he just glanced out a different window and stayed silent.

Once he was certain their little staring contest/moment was over, Roy glanced over to his Lieutenant. "Perhaps it would be best if you got her yourself, if that wouldn't be too much to ask, Lieutenant." He said before glancing back over to Ed, before he looked out the window Lizzy was looking out of…He was silent as he then glanced at the ceiling. He knew his presence was killing the mood, but that was kind of his job, basically being her older brother. He crossed his arms over his chest and lowered his eyes to the two of them, watching them like a hawk.

Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye saluted her superior officer. "Yes sir." Then she turned to leave; it was nearing the time when Winry was supposed to be arriving at the train station. She thought she could go wait for the young female mechanic. It would not be a very long wait, and it gave her an excuse to leave and give Edward and Elizabeth some time alone to talk. Especially since Colonel Roy Mustang was that much less likely to stick around if he had no one around to tease the two in front of-in other words, without an audience. Teasing them was something he seemed to enjoy thoroughly, but he could enjoy it more when he had someone there to let him know he was toeing the line and going even a little too far.

Sure enough, it worked. Shortly after Riza left, Roy turned and walked out of the room. He knew they wanted to talk; he was just having fun picking on them like he always did.

Edward glanced after him before looking back at Lizzy. "I can never read him, and I hate that... I can never tell if he wants to kill me for barely looking at you or not." He grumbled.

Lizzy still felt slightly uncomfortable, never quite knowing how to act when she and Ed were alone. It was a bit of a relief when he spoke up first, making light-sort of-of Roy's teasing. A bead of sweat dripped comically down the side of her face, and then she smirked. "I don't know if I would say you were 'barely looking.' You were practically boring holes in my face." Then she stuck her tongue out at him, before pulling it back behind her lips and turning her head to look away from him playfully. Midnight blue irises still glanced his direction, waiting for and wanting to see his reaction to her own teasing.

Edward blinked and blushed slightly glancing away, he just smirked, "Tch, please I was barely looking at you; after all, you're not that great to look at." He said grinning over at her. Sure they were friends, but they were still rivals as well after all. He continued grinning as he waved over his shoulder at her, turning to leave the room as well. "I'll be back soon, I promise." He was just going to go get food; he would be back in a few minutes.

Elizabeth was grinning in a cocky manner, but that quickly faded when Ed said she wasn't much to look at. "Is that a fact?" She growled, and then blinked when he just turned to leave. She was a bit flabbergasted, but she got over it quickly enough and sighed. "'Be right back,' he says..." She mumbled under her breath, and then turned to gaze out the window, losing herself in her thoughts...

The blond boy walked out of the hospital room, and toward the dining room, he walked in and got food, before stuffing his face, and then taking some food back toward Lizzy's room. He walked in and placed a full tray on her lap, smiling some. "Here, I figured you'd be hungry…" He mumbled, before leaning against the wall again shutting his eyes. "So…What do you think the Major General wants with us?"

When Edward came back into her room and she saw the tray of food he had brought back for her, her eyes almost swelled with tears and began to sparkle. She had not even realized how hungry she was until the sight and smell of food reached her senses. "I am; thank you!" She said enthusiastically, then froze and glared at him slightly when he turned to walk away. He did not seem to notice, however, and began speaking again. She blinked, and then stared at the tray in thought. "...I'm not sure. Maybe she just wants a full report in person?" She murmured, thinking aloud. Then she gazed longingly at the food and drink on her tray. Leaning forward, she drank from the straw protruding from her beverage, and then she lifted her right arm and attempted to pick up her fork. But with her wrist broken, it was difficult and painful to move her hand much. She was determined, and without thinking, she leaned forward, practically bent in half, and grabbed her bread roll with her teeth, then began carefully chewing into it.

Edward glanced over and blinked a few times. "Sorry, let me help…" He said laughing some, before walking over to her.

Elizabeth continued chewing through her bread roll, turning and blinking at Edward as he approached her. "Yeah, I guess." She mumbled around the roll, reluctant to have help, but deep down she was appreciative of it. However, Roy's horrible timing-as usual, it seemed-had other plans. Blue eyes widened when her cousin came strolling into the room, then widened further when he spoke.

"..What the hell?" The Colonel walked in and looked at Lizzy before looking at Edward. "Why is my cousin eating like a dog?" He said glaring, his hands slowly turning white as the gloves were slipped on.

"M—Mustang, wait!" He said before flailing and running out of the room, whining. "I WAS GOING TO HELP HER!"

"I DOUBT THAT YOU LITTLE JERK! HOW DARE YOU JUST SIT THERE AND MAKE HER SUFFER LIKE THAT!" His fingers snapped as he caused flames to go right toward Edward, he let out a shrill cry and jumped up into the air holding his leg. "OOWW DAMNIT MUSTANG!" He said as another snap happened, and more flames kept coming towards him.

The bread fell from her mouth and back onto the tray as she and Edward tried to explain the situation. "Roy, no! It's not-" But it was already far too late; her cousin was no longer listening to them or to reason. Then the males were off and running down the hall, and there was no way Elizabeth would be able to chase them. But that did not stop her from almost trying. She nearly fell out of her bed, until she remembered her legs were not working very well, either. Stuck in bed and feeling completely useless, Lizzy growled and inhaled deeply. "DAMN IT, YOU IDIOTS! GET BACK HERE!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, but they were long gone and not likely to hear her by now. The motion and effort strained her insides, however, and she coughed, turning her head away from the food Ed had brought her. She clenched her teeth and kept her lips pursed together tightly, keeping her bodily fluids inside of her where they belonged. Pale, she let out a grumble of complaint, then shuddered and leaned forward to down most of her drink.

Fortunately for Edward Elric, the Lieutenant returned with Winry Rockbell just in time to keep him from being made into a pile of charcoal. "SIR." Riza Hawkeye bellowed, trying to stop him from snapping his fingers again while the young blonde mechanic stood behind her, dumbfounded.

Roy stopped, hearing Riza yell at him. He looked over at her and glared, though the sour look was not really meant to be directed at her. "He was making Elizabeth eat like a dog!" He yelled, his eyes twitching slightly.

Edward had tears comically streaming down his cheeks. "I don't want to diiiiieeee…!" He said, shaking in the corner and whimpering.

Roy just glared over at him and finally scoffed. "Fine, I won't burn him, but I _will _get him back...one way or another." He said glaring walking into his cousin's hospital room before handing her the piece of bread again, keeping it near her mouth so she could eat properly.

Edward soon inched back in after Mustang, whimpering slightly. His clothes were slightly burnt staring forward. "I was going help her…" He mumbled before inching back in the corner away from the fuming Colonel and the soon to be fuming Winry.

The blonde Lieutenant simply continued to stare at the raven-haired Colonel incredulously. She was certain she was missing something here, and Edward had not actually been making Lizzy eat like a dog. Mustang had probably missed something as well, if he truly believed that. She sighed as Roy finally gave up his pursuit of the small, whimpering Alchemist, and followed him to Elizabeth's hospital room. But first she paused and turned to the young blonde mechanic, smiling politely. "Winry, Elizabeth is right this way." Then she turned and led the girl to her friend's room.

Elizabeth lifted her head and turned to look at the door when her cousin entered. At first she had thought it was Edward, and actually rather hoped it was. When she realized it was not, her facial expression and overall demeanor changed. She did not look disappointed that it was not Ed, but she looked rather suspicious. "Roy...what did you do to Ed—Fullmetal?" She grumbled. But as he lifted the bread to her mouth and placed it in front of her face where she could feel its warmth and smell its warm aroma, she gave in and took a bite. She continued to stare at him as she chewed, though, expecting an answer. Even when Edward came back into the room at last, she would continue demanding an answer if she had not or did not get one.

Soon after Ed, Hawkeye finally came into the room. She had taken a moment to make sure Winry was prepared, but it was difficult to do without worrying the girl unnecessarily; she just let the younger blonde female know her best (girl) friend was fine. Lizzy glanced at Riza to acknowledge her, then froze and paled when Winry came into the room. "H-hey, Winry."

Winry smiled at Elizabeth and hurried to her bedside. "Lizzy! How are you? What happen-?" She was taking everything in visually while she spoke, and that was how she noticed Colonel Mustang feeding her friend. That lead her to question why; the broken wrist was obvious, but why wasn't Elizabeth using her left arm? Then it clicked it was busted, and Winry's face froze when she took in the sight of the damages. "...Elizabeth..." Her voice was dripping with ice and murderous intent. "What did you do to my beautiful automail?"

Elizabeth laughed nervously. "I-I can explain! It wasn't actually m-"

Before she could finish, Winry was already throwing tools at her. Steel Wing might have questioned where these metal tools of death were coming from if she had not been so busy dodging them.

"YOU WRECKED MY ARM!"

"IT WASN'T MY FAULT, YOU CRAZY AUTOMAIL FREAK!"

"IT'S BROKEN, ALCHEMY OTAKU!"

"IF YOU WOULD JUST LISTEN-!"

Winry had stopped throwing things, and as soon as Elizabeth realized this, she stopped. Slowly, hesitantly, she sat up straight and looked at her friend, wondering what she was planning. The last thing she was expecting was to see Winry's eyes fixed on her, full of worry and filled with tears.

"You were being reckless again! You were reckless, and you got hurt...badly."

Lizzy's face fell and she instantly felt deep guilt. "Winry...I'm okay. See? I'm still alive-I'm fine!" She grinned, trying to show Winry just how great she felt-even if it was a little forced.

"You idiot!" Winry cried, her voice breaking slightly.

Elizabeth winced.

"You're in the hospital! You're not 'fine,' you're not 'okay!' What if you had been killed?!" The pale blonde demanded.

Lizzy smiled, shaking her head. "I wouldn't have been-"

"You can't know that!"

Now Lizzy felt worse as tears spilled from those pale blue eyes of the girl that was like a sister to her. And she did not know what to say to that, either. She supposed Winry had a point; she fell silent for several moments. When she finally spoke, her voice was weak. "I'm sorry..." She murmured. Her head was lowered, and her bangs cast a shadow over her eyes. The raven-haired girl only lifted her head again when she suddenly felt arms around her.

Winry had walked around to the other side of her bed, opposite Roy, and was now hugging her tightly. "Why are you all so stupid and reckless?" It was a rhetorical question.

In response, Lizzy leaned into her friend since it was the closest she could come to hugging her back. "I'm sorry, Winry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry..." She whispered, repeating the words over and over again in the hopes Winry would stop crying, feel better, and forgive her.

As Winry was chucking random objects and tools at his cousin, Roy just stood there sweat-dropping, but the second Winry hugged her, Roy turned and glanced to Riza. "We should go, Lieutenant." He said before walking out the door.

Elizabeth glanced past her emotional friend's shoulder when she heard Riza and her cousin leaving. She was a little sad he was going, as she always was when he left whether she realized it or not, but she knew he was no good in situations like this. The raven-haired, blue-eyed girl let out a silent sigh, then returned her attention to her blonde, female friend.

Edward stared at his feet in silence; he didn't know what to say. He knew Winry was worried, she always was, but they were dogs of the military now. They had to fight to protect themselves and the 'people' the military apparently stood for. He hated it, he hated doing this, but he knew it was the only way he could get near the Philosopher's Stone and restore him and his brother's bodies. He knew Winry hated it, and he knew she hated seeing them hurt beyond just her precious automail. He knew that every time she came storming in angrily it was really because she was happy they were alive. He shut his eyes and a small smile spread across his lips. "I'm sorry too, Winry." He whispered before looking up at her, the tiny smile still on his lips. "I really am." He hated seeing her hurt; he hated seeing her cry, and right now was no exception.

Winry rubbed her sleeve quickly over her eyes after Edward spoke, apologizing to her as well, ridding her face of her tears. Then the pale blue-eyed girl turned to point at Edward, glowering weakly. "Darn right you are. You're as bad as she is! You're all just terrible worries."

Elizabeth laughed, knowing Winry was giving in and feeling bad for crying. "Soon you're going to start growing silver hair. Before long, you'll look like Auntie Pinako." She said jokingly.

It was no longer funny, however, when Winry slammed her wrench into the top of Lizzy's head. The female Alchemist fell backwards onto her pillow, her eyes spinning as a fountain of blood spewed comically from her head.

"Oh, really?" Winry challenged, but she got no rebuttal after that. Then she sighed, and Elizabeth blinked and returned to a more normal state. "You're going to have to live without your left arm for a few more days. I'll have to completely remake it. But I'll get it finished for you as quickly as possible-for a hefty fee, of course."

Elizabeth smiled nervously, and then nodded. "Yeah...that's fine. Take your time. I'm not going anywhere for a while." Then she turned and looked at Edward with a wicked gleam in her eye. "Someone will just have to wait on me hand and foot in the meantime. You know, to make up for 'making me eat like a dog.'" She was only teasing him, of course, but at the same time she was doing him a favor. If she did not say something about it, Mustang sure as hell would-he still might.

Winry blinked, and then looked back and forth between the two of them, aware she was missing something, but not sure she even wanted an explanation. She was also doing her best not to over-think Lizzy's comment about not going anywhere for a while. Then she went to work, gently removing Elizabeth's failed automail arm so she could get to work on it right away. After gathering everything, she jotted down her hotel information on a note. "Here's where I'll be staying. But don't bother me unless it's an emergency."

Elizabeth let out another nervous laugh as she nodded; she knew Winry planned to pull as many all-nighters as it took to finish, and would not respond well to any interruptions.

Edward nodded, he knew that was mostly directed to him, after all he was always quite annoying when it came to waiting. He just grinned, and waved his hand. "I'll leave you alone, Winry, don't you worry." He said smiling. "But you should probably not pull nothing but all nighters…you need your sleep too ya know." He said softly, before looking over to Elizabeth. "You still hungry? After all I wouldn't want the Colonel walking back in here thinking I was making you eat like a dog again." He said with a small smile, walking over to her before offering her some food on her fork. "After all, I'd be starving." He said, his amber eyes shut and a big, stupid grin on his face.

Winry shot Edward a warning glare to make sure he meant it, and knew she did as well. Satisfied, she nodded, and then made her way to the door.

"Ah-" Elizabeth tried to catch her before she left. "Winry, you don't have to hurry or anything. Really. And Ed's right. You just got here, at least get some rest tonight, okay?"

The blonde-haired, blue-eyed Amestrian girl stopped and looked back at her bed-ridden friend. Perhaps Lizzy did have a point, but she still wanted her friend to have the use of at least one arm as long as she was stuck in this hospital room. For a brief moment she recalled the night they had found her, slowly bleeding to death. It seemed so ironic her flesh arm would be less useful than her fake one for a while...the cruel kind of irony. Winry pushed these thoughts from her mind and smiled genuinely. "I will, don't you worry. You just focus on feeling better!" When Elizabeth returned her smile and nodded, Winry turned to leave again.

But she paused in the doorway, taking a moment to look back at two of her best friends. She watched the way they interacted, even in that small moment, and briefly felt a pang of jealousy. Elizabeth got to see Ed and Al far more often than she did-that she was aware-and even more than that, it seemed as though these two had gotten closer. Far closer, or at least in a different way than they had been a few years ago. The looks in their eyes when they spoke to one another, or about one another, was different somehow. Or she could have just been imagining it, and Ed was just worried about their hospitalized friend, she told herself, finally leaving the room and leaving them alone...


	10. Chapter 10: Moving Forward

Unaware Winry had still been watching them; Steel Wing returned her attention to Fullmetal. She blushed when Edward mentioned eating, and began to lift her fork for her. She would have tried denying it, but her stomach interrupted her with a loud growl. Somewhat stubbornly, she gave into Edward's unintentional, natural charms and bright, goofy smile and opened her mouth.

Edward continued to smile; he was glad she gave in—if she had not, he would have forced the food into her mouth anyway. Once she finished that bite, he got more and held it in front of her. "You know she's going to work non-stop no matter what we say." He mumbled, lowering his eyes to her bed, sighing some. "Sometimes she's just too stubborn for her own good." He whispered. He was genuinely worried about her well being; he did not want to have another friend in the hospital.

Elizabeth chewed and swallowed the bite he had given her, and then took the next with a little more ease, though she was still blushing a little. She paused in chewing, then continued and swallowed as she thought about what he had said. She nodded as she swallowed, and a smile tugged at one corner of her lips. "That's Winry for you. She's used to it, though. She and Auntie Pinako have been doing this for almost as long as I can remember. Besides, Ed, like you're one to talk." She laughed softly, half joking, but mostly teasing him, though she meant it. She knew well he pulled all-nighters studying Alchemy quite often, especially while he was still learning.

Those thoughts would have to wait, though, as a nurse came in a little while later. Once the woman was through the door, she closed it behind her and swiftly locked it. Then she turned and looked at the hospitalized Steel Wing Alchemist. "Glad to see you're doing well…" The nurse said with a familiar wicked smirk on her lips.

Elizabeth assumed the woman was there to check on her, but she was somewhat confused as to why the nurse locked the door. Before she could speak and reply, realization washed over her in a wave of icy fear and all color drained from her face.

"I do see both of your arms aren't working though…how sad." The "nurse" commented mockingly.

What was Envy doing here? Elizabeth's lips were parted slightly, but no sound would come out, and she was unable to speak. She had not felt such crippling fear in a long time, but Envy had just easily infiltrated the hospital with no hints yet to the Homunculus's intentions.

Edward's eyes widened as realization hit him as well, and then ran at the disguised creature in an attempt to attack before Envy could get any further.

The shape-shifter quickly grabbed Ed's right wrist and smiled, "Now, now, Fullmetal pipsqueak, I don't want to fight, I was just told to come check on one of our sacrifices. But if you're going to insist…" He began to bend Edward's wrist back. He did not break the auto mail arm but it still caused pain to shoot up the appendage.

Edward cringed and took a step back "Then leave!" He hissed.

As soon as Edward ran at the Homunculus in disguise and the monster grabbed his wrist, she snapped out of her fearful trance somewhat. "Ed!" When she saw Envy bending his wrist back, harming him or intending to, she tried to run to him without thinking. The instant her feet touched the floor, her legs gave out and she collapsed, rather painfully. "Let him go, Envy!" She cried, desperate to help Edward somehow, blind to anything else, including her own pain and condition. She was giving up too much information, but she did not care to think of it at the moment.

The nurse smiled. "Fine, I got what I wanted. Hurry and feel better, Elizabeth. Oh, and I wasn't here-we wouldn't want anything to happen to that blonde girl now would we?" She unlocked the door, and walked quickly down the hall.

She was relieved when Envy decided to leave, but trembled when the creature directed his voice at her and spoke her name. Her eyes widened and she felt another wave of fear when he not-so-subtly threatened Winry. "Don't you touch her!" She screamed after Envy as the Homunculus retreated down the hall. The danger had passed for now, and her body seemed to know it as it gave out on her and she collapsed onto the cold, hard floor.

Edward was glaring as he quickly stood and ran out into the hall. "Envy!" He yelled, looking down the hall, but the Homunculus was nowhere to be seen. Ed was sure he had already changed his appearance, and was long gone…

After a moment of trying to calm herself, Elizabeth pushed herself up off the ground as best as she could with her flesh arm. She looked after Edward, wondering if he had been able to find the Homunculus, but rather hoping he would not.

* * *

Roy was sitting in one of the guest rooms staring at the floor in silence, his mind deep in thought. But the second he heard Edward scream that name he slipped his gloves on and bolted out of the room and down the hall. "What happened?!" He yelled before he ran to his cousin's side and helped her back into her bed. Then he looked over his shoulder at Edward. "Which way did he go? I'm going after him." He hissed, his fists clenching tightly as he turned and walked out into the hall to look.

The dark-haired girl was somewhat surprised when Roy came running into the room, but she was mostly relieved to see him. She helped him as best as she could when he helped her back into her bed, but this mostly meant going somewhat limp so he could pick her up and move her. "E-Envy..." She barely managed to get the name out, her voice barely above a whisper.

Edward started to say something but stopped and just pointed down the hall. "But he's gone, Colonel, we won't be able to find him. "

"DAMN IT!" Roy yelled before his fist hit the wall. He wanted to burn Envy for what that bastard did to his cousin…

When he asked which way the Homunculus went and said he was going after him, she was glad Edward convinced him of how futile it was. "H-he disguised himself as a nurse this time. He changes too fast, Roy, there's no point. Ed's right, he's long gone..." She was still trembling and still felt as though the amount of color in her face was severely lacking. Elizabeth took several deep breaths to calm herself, closing her eyes.

When she finally opened her eyes, they turned up to look at Edward, then at her cousin. "Please don't go after him... H-he...just forget about this. Don't go…" She was afraid for either of them to leave her sight, subconsciously because she was afraid of Envy pulling the same trick he had before, but mostly she was afraid of them getting hurt. She was determined to pay the bastard back for hurting Ed and threatening Winry later. But right now she was scared of losing them and putting Winry in danger. "Envy threatened Winry if we told anyone he was here. You knowing could already put her in danger, Roy. She needs guards around her hotel and her room... But she can't know they're there, or she'll just worry more. Envy only came to check on me..." The thought made her shudder.

Roy looked over at Elizabeth; he was about to protest but saw the look in her eyes and nodded. "Alright…I'll make sure there are plenty of guards around." He said before turning away. "If that bastard shows up again, I better hear about it." He hissed before walking out of the room. He found the nearest phone where he called headquarters, demanding guards be discreetly placed outside Winry's hotel room.

Elizabeth smiled softly as she thanked her cousin, and then kept it on her lips with a bit of effort as he demanded hearing about it if Envy made another appearance. "You will." She murmured. She was trying to let him know somehow through her actions and calmer tone that everything was alright. He could stop worrying. Then her attention was on Edward. "How's your wrist, Ed?" She asked softly, looking at it with worry in her eyes. "Dummy...What if he had done worse?" She was only trying to sound mad because she had been so afraid.

Edward blinked and smiled some. "I'm alright, Lizzy." He said moving his wrist back and forth. "It just hurt is all." He said softly, before walking over to her kissing her forehead. "Rest, I'll make sure he doesn't come back. And I'm sure Winry will be safe, so just…try to relax, I'm sure you'll have your arm in no time and then you'll be out of here soon." He said smiling some gently grabbing her hand, making sure not to hurt her wrist. "I'll be here when you wake up."

She did not seem entirely satisfied that he was not more hurt than he let on, but she believed him anyway. He did not look to be in pain, so that much was good. Lizzy let out a quiet sigh, then wiggled her body downward so she could lie more comfortably in her bed. Sleep did sound rather tempting, and after all that excitement her body was tired whether she wanted to be or not. "Just make sure you get some sleep, Ed. Have them bring a cot in here if you're going to be stubborn about not leaving. But don't...sleep on the floor again..." She murmured sleepily as she quickly drifted off.

Ed laughed and nodded. "Sure, I will, I promise." He said to her remark about getting a cot; but every time she awoke he would be at her side.

* * *

The Steel Wing Alchemist's room became crowded and busy late at night. Not because she had friends or family suddenly piling in, but nurses and doctors. That night she had another nightmare; this time Envy disguised himself as Edward again and was actually the one who had come back from the hallway. Instead of encouraging her gently to go to sleep, to rest, he locked the door and resumed tormenting her. The next night, it was her mother and father, covered in blood and asking her why she had not taken care of her younger siblings. This pattern went on for several nights, and each nightmare ended in whoever was to be her tormentor for that dream trying to choke her in some way. Then the nightmare would fade to blackness and she would forget all about it.

The doctors and nurses would have to do as they had the first night, and finally sedate her. Elizabeth woke up each morning or-more often-afternoon with the oxygen mask over her nose and mouth, but, though confused, she did not question it and no one told her why...

As he had promised himself, Edward never left Elizabeth's side, even when the nurses tried to get him out of the way. He just glared and told them he was not moving, no matter what. His hand was always in hers, and he would not let go. He had not slept, he refused to, not after the fact Envy easily strolled in here like it was nothing. Every time she awoke, he removed the oxygen mask for her, since he remembered she hated them blocking her face. This particular morning, Ed smiled down at his friend gently. "How are you feeling?"

Elizabeth sighed softly as Edward removed the mask for her once again. She was beginning to wish she had at least one of her arms back, but did not want to rush Winry any more than her blonde friend was rushing herself. "Honestly, you'd think they don't think I know how to breathe." She huffed. Then she smiled brightly at her friend. "Ah, you know. About the same as usual." Then she rolled her eyes and looked around the room jokingly. Even now she continued attempting to make light of her situation and condition; though even now she was refusing to look down at her missing arm. It was still a little too surreal for her, so instead she allowed her gaze to fall on Edward. "When was the last time you slept?" She asked, suddenly realizing how tired he looked as her eyes wandered over one of her best friends.

* * *

As if she had sensed Elizabeth's growing need for her arm, Winry Rockbell made the final adjustments on it. She was on her way to the hospital already, and reached it soon enough. Once inside, she found a nurse and checked to be certain Lizzy was still in the same room. As she walked away, she overheard one of the nurses say something that caused her to stop and turn back around. "Excuse me, ma'am? What did you mean? What's wrong with her, is she alright?" The nurse looked reluctant to say anything, but Winry could be very persuasive, especially when she was this worried.

* * *

Several minutes later, Elizabeth nearly jumped out of her skin when the door to her room was thrown open and slammed into the wall. "Winry! You scared me... What's wrong?" Winry's expression was a mixture of worry, anger, and confusion, plus a slew of other things the black-haired girl was having difficulty reading at the moment.

"You tell me! What on earth put you under so much stress you stop breathing every night and they have to put you on oxygen just to keep you alive?! And you never told me how you got so badly injured you have to be bedridden in the hospital for at least two months."

Elizabeth's confused gaze turned to Edward. "What is she talking about? What...Wh-why do I keep waking up with a mask on...?" Her eyes widened as sudden flashes, images from her nightmares shot through her mind-.

"Don't ask him, Elizabeth!" Winry snapped. She crossed the room to the injured girl's bed, shoved her heavy bag of tools and automail into Ed's arms, and placed her hands on her hips. "How many times do I have to tell you, you can come to me about anything!? I know I can't ask you to quit again, because you told me why you do this. But you can't keep putting yourself in danger!"

Ed blinked as tools got shoved into his arms, but he said nothing about it, he just and suppressed a yawn. He rubbed his eye, and listened to them argue in silence.

"Sometimes it's necessary!" Elizabeth retorted.

"It's never necessary! Lizzy, if you die, how are you supposed to get your body back? How are you going to fulfill the promise you made me and Auntie Pinako?" Winry demanded.

Elizabeth's mouth fell open, but she was speechless. As she lowered her head and stared at her lap in shame, what Major General Stryker had said to her began to come back to her. She was surrounded by people who loved her, who counted on her. She had to stop letting Envy, a Homunculus who did not know her the way her loved ones did, get to her. She had to keep moving forward. "...I won't break my promise." She murmured.

"Good!" Winry replied without missing a beat.

Elizabeth looked up, confused, but paled when she saw her blonde friend now holding some tools and her repaired automail arm.

She cleared the socket of the broken pieces from the previous one, then lifted Elizabeth's arm and aimed it to insert properly. "Now, brace yourself." She did it as gently as possible, but as soon as Winry inserted the metal arm into its socket, Elizabeth clenched her teeth and lips shut tight and had to suppress a loud yelp of pain. While Winry tinkered with it and did the final touch ups, Lizzy laid back on her pillow and closed her eyes, taking deep breaths in the hope the pain would subside faster. "I fixed this up for you so you can keep moving forward. Don't stop, no matter what, but...please be careful." Winry whispered.

Elizabeth glanced at her blonde friend out of the corner of her eye, gazed at her for a moment, then nodded. "...I promise."

Ed smiled lightly. "I'm glad to hear that." He quipped, smirking.

* * *

Things went rather smoothly after Winry yelled some sense into Elizabeth. The raven-haired girl's late-night "attacks" stopped abruptly and so did the nightmares that caused them.

Winry stayed for another day or two, but finally left with some reluctance. She only really agreed to leave after Elizabeth promised her they would all come visit her and Auntie Pinako as soon as possible, whether that was once she was released from the hospital, or as soon as she could get away after. Lizzy was likely to have a lot to do to catch up, so it would be some time before she, Edward and Alphonse could all visit. But they would, and that was what Winry looked forward to.

* * *

A month later, Elizabeth was finally released. Edward helped her into a car that Roy was driving; he knew Alina would want to see them as soon as possible. Since Lizzy was able to move again Roy figured the faster they get this over with the faster his cousin could forget about everything that happened. Roy stayed silent on the whole drive there before they all got out and began to walk inside and toward Alina's office.

* * *

It was a month later, and how the time had seemed to drag. There was not much the Steel Wing Alchemist could do confined to her hospital bed, but having at least one arm, and once her legs had healed-Winry had fixed up the automail one-she got into plenty of trouble. Many of the doctors and nurses were not sure whether they were glad to see her go or not, but it would certainly be much "quieter" without her there.

As soon as Edward helped her outside, Elizabeth took the moment she had before they reached the car to look around. Everything seemed so much brighter and clearer after being stuck in a hospital room for two months. Even as they drove to Central HQ, she continued to look excitedly out the window, like a little kid or a puppy might.

* * *

Alina sighed softly she was just doing paperwork in silence, she hadn't heard anything about Steel Wing, but she was sure she was fine, she would have heard about it otherwise.

Once there, she accepted a little assistance that may have been offered to her from Ed or Roy, but for the most part she insisted on walking on her own. Her wrist and ribs still required some care, but her legs were working just fine. Still, the Steel Wing Alchemist stayed at Fullmetal's side during their quiet, solemn walk to the Major General's office.

Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye was already there and waiting for them outside.

Roy walked over to Riza and glanced back to the two young Alchemists. He nodded slightly, before gently knocking on the Major General's office door.

"Come in." Alina beckoned them from within.

Roy opened it and walked in saluting her and nodded. "Major General, sir." He said, still saluting.

Lieutenant Hawkeye entered Alina's office behind Mustang, and Elizabeth entered between him and Edward. The Lieutenant saluted their superior as well, and then stood at ease only when she was given permission to do so.

"At ease…" Alina stated; glancing up she smiled softly. "Elizabeth, how are you feeling?" She asked smiling slightly.

Elizabeth's attention turned to the Major General when she was spoken to directly, and she shrugged her left shoulder casually. "Fine, sir. Thanks for asking." She still was not certain how to feel about this woman, but so far from what little she had seen, she liked her.

Once her question was answered, Alina nodded and then slowly stood. "Lieutenant Hawkeye, I am pleased to announce that you have been promoted to Major." She said before saluting her. "Congratulations."

Roy smiled. He was happy for Hawkeye, but he was trying to climb to the top and he hadn't been promoted in quite some time.

Edward smiled at the blonde female. "Congrats, Major Hawkeye…it's going be hard to get used to that."

Alina then turned to Roy. "Don't worry, Brigadier General Mustang…You're not getting left behind." She said as she smiled, saluting them both once more.

Mustang grinned from ear to ear. He had been waiting for this for quite some time, and he was glad to finally hear it.

Lieutenant-Major Hawkeye saluted once more, stunned. "Thank you, sir." She was waiting for it, and her patience was rewarded when she heard Roy Mustang being promoted as well. There was no way she could have accepted being a higher rank than him, not when she had vowed to fully support him in his climb to the top.

Edward sighed, however, when he heard Mustangs promotion. "Great now you have even more power over my head." He grumbled.

"Yeah, congratulations, Major! And…Mustang." Elizabeth started off cheerfully enough, and then ended with a grumble. She was happy for her cousin, genuinely, but she already knew he was not going to shut up about this for a while. If she gave him any sort of praise in front of people, she would never live it down, and he would probably never stop making up stories and over-exaggerating her reaction. Although, that was very likely to happen anyway, she thought. Still, she would be sure to give him a proper "congratulations"...eventually.

Alina glanced at Edward and Elizabeth before returning her attention to the newly-promoted officers for a moment longer. "Mustang, Hawkeye, you are both dismissed. However I would like if both Edward and Elizabeth stuck around. I have a few things I wish to discuss."

Roy was grinning; he wasn't even really listening to anyone anymore. He was just in his own little world of himself as Fuhrer as he walked out of the office and down the hall with Hawkeye.

Steel Wing blinked when Hawkeye and her cousin were dismissed, and as Riza saluted the Major General, and then turned to leave with Roy Mustang. Once they were gone, she found an empty seat and made herself comfortable. "So...what is it you wanted to discuss, sir?" She asked, curious and perhaps a little nervous.

Edward sat across from Elizabeth, and looked over to Alina. "Yeah, what is it you want? You don't talk to us lower folk much." He said with a nod.

Elizabeth shot Edward a look that told him to shut up when he mentioned them as "lower folk," warning him with her gaze not to mock the Major General. She had heard (vague) stories from her cousin, Roy Mustang, and knew he should not be joking like that. Fortunately, Alina seemed to dismiss his comment and continued with what she had wanted to tell them.

Alina shut her eyes and sighed softly. "My parents research on the Philosopher's Stone…I want you both to have it." She said softly slowly standing. "But the main ingredient isn't a happy one, the things I did I to assist my parents are not good… You have to understand the toll you must pay to create a stone; however, my parents were working on making it to where they no longer needed this ingredient…"

"What the hell is it Major General?! You keep talking about it, what the hell is it?!" Edward all but leapt from the couch with excitement. This would be a huge step towards getting him and his brother's original bodies back.

"Human souls." Alina said softly, before looking over to them with a somber expression on her face. "But as I said, my parents were working on figuring out away to change that so they weren't needed. My parents were obsessed… "

By the time Edward was demanding impatiently to know what the main ingredient was Elizabeth was literally on the edge of her seat, dying to know as well. However, the moment the answer left the Major General's lips, the raven-haired girl began to wish she had not told them. "There's no way..." She murmured in disbelief, shocked and disgusted. The stone they had been searching for all this time, the one thing that would help them get their bodies back, came at the cost of other peoples' lives? What were they supposed to do with this information? What the hell were they going to do now?

Edward was just staring forward shaking slightly. "W—what?" he whispered softly. "Y—you can't be serious…"

"I am." She hissed. "I want you both to follow me, I will give you all their research…it should help you guys." She whispered softly, her eyes watering. She hated talking about anything related to her past, especially her parents; it killed her to have to remember these things.

Dumbstruck and speechless, Steel Wing stood on shaky legs and followed Alina reluctantly. If this woman's parents, as evil as they sounded, had been searching for some way around such horror, perhaps they had at least come close. Perhaps they had left behind some sort of "truth behind the truth" that would allow for a loop hole. There had to be some other way, Elizabeth was certain of it. At least, she desperately wanted to be...

The Major General walked out of her office, down the hall, and outside with the two young Alchemists following close behind her. It was a short walk from Central headquarters to her apartment, where she opened the door. Inside, she led them to a back room. Within were many books and journals; a few of them were stained with blood.

Alina sighed softly, and then spoke. "This is everything." She murmured, and then reached into her pocket and handed Elizabeth a key. "You guys are welcome here whenever. I'm sorry to drop such a bomb on you, but my parents were close, they just didn't finish it before I…" She glanced away as she trailed off, her eyes still watering. "I'm sorry, but I hope this all helps."

Elizabeth's midnight blue eyes stared around the room in awe, momentarily forgetting the horror and temporarily trapped in the fascination of all that research. But when she saw the old, dried blood on some of the books and journals, she snapped out of it and reality sank in again. Still, seeing all of this made her even more determined than ever to find a different answer. She took the key from the Major General carefully, and then placed it in her pocket.

Edward walked over to the chestnut-haired woman and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't apologize," He whispered staring at the ground with his bangs shadowing his eyes. "Thank you for telling us…and offering all this to us." He said before looking up at her with a small smile.

Elizabeth placed her left hand on Alina's other shoulder and smiled at the older woman as well. "You've already helped us a great deal. Thank you, Major General Stryker." She murmured with full sincerity in her voice. Elizabeth squeezed her shoulder gently, then released it and walked further into the room. She began exploring, and then picked up one of the closest journals to her. She sat down on the floor and placed it before her, flipped it open with her left hand, and began to read. Within moments, she was deeply absorbed and lost to the world.

Alina smiled slightly. "You're welcome, and…that blood isn't anything to worry about; it's mine…try not to let it get it to you." She whispered before turning on her heel. "Help yourself to the kitchen; I have plenty of food." She said smiling before walking out the door, and back toward Central.

Edward smiled some, before grabbing one of the books and starting to flip through it as well. He still did not know how to feel about Alina. He knew she was sincere, but part of him knew she was still hiding something from all of them. He did not know what, he just knew she was. He continued flipping through the pages of the book he had picked up as he sighed. "If all of this blood is hers, I'd hate to think what her parents did to her…" He whispered to Elizabeth, looking through the blood-stained book, his golden optics scanning the pages.

Elizabeth had not heard what Alina said, and was not even aware she had left them alone. She did not hear Edward when he spoke, either, though the thought had occurred to her on her own at some point.

* * *

It was several hours before Steel Wing lifted her nose from the books she was perusing, and when she looked up, it was dark outside. She stretched, wondering how late it had gotten without her noticing. When her back told her it was time to quit for the night, she sighed and allowed herself to fall backwards and onto the floor. A cast and sling kept her right arm against her torso, but her left stretched out and above her head while her legs stretched across the floor as well. When her left arm touched something, she tilted her head back to see what she had bumped into.

Her midnight blue eyes found Edward's leg at the end of her arm, and her cheeks flushed a deep red. She moved her hand away quickly, and then cleared her throat. "I'm not sure how much I learned, but should we quit for the night?" She asked, trying to make conversation and avoid the fact she had touched him so casually. Then a thought occurred to her, and she sighed. "Roy had better not be 'celebrating.' I'm going to be stuck at his place for a while." She had not yet had the chance to set up another hotel reservation, and the doctor(s) had actually insisted she stay with family or friends until she was completely healed. Not that she intended to listen, unless she was forced to by someone outside the hospital and within her "circle." But she had not yet had a chance to find a military hotel to stay at. She sighed again, then sat up, preparing herself to return to the newly-appointed Brigadier-General's apartment and likely find a drunk-or getting there-Roy Mustang.

Edward nodded slightly, as he stretched. "Yeah, we probably should, I'm not sure the Major General wants us in her house while she's asleep." He said with a small smile.

"You're not really the one to make that call, are you?" Alina spoke suddenly from the doorway, smiling, before looking over at Elizabeth. "You're both more than welcome to stay here, I have two extra rooms. Besides I already talked Mustang; he's pretty much gone; I'm not sure you staying with him would be wise." She commented. "Plus, this way you can come straight back here when you wake up. I also made you two food-it's on the table if you want it. In any case the two rooms are down the hall if you wanted to stay. If not, I wish you luck with your cousin, Steel Wing." She said smiling some, before turning on her heel walking toward her own room.

Elizabeth nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of Alina's voice from the doorway. She had begun to think the Major General was gone or perhaps asleep, but the last place she had expected her to be was practically in the same room as them. Lizzy considered politely declining at first. Her first instinct was the desire to take care of her cousin and make certain he was not getting absolutely drunk. But once she thought about it, she knew he was an adult and capable of making his own decisions-and obviously already had while she had been busy reading.

Besides, perhaps he deserved a night to celebrate, and since he was not getting drunk to drown away his sorrows but for a much happier reason, she finally decided to stay off his back, this time. And besides, as an added bonus, there was food being offered to her and Edward. "If it's all the same to you, sir, your spare rooms sound perfect." She said with a nervous grin, easily giving away her ulterior motives of avoiding her sloshed cousin.

Edward blinked and stood up rubbing the back of his head before wandering into the kitchen and starting to eat. After all, he knew they had been so wrapped up in reading, neither of them had eaten. "I think I might stay here, at least for tonight." He grumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. "It sounds much nicer then trudging all the way back to me and Al's apartment."

Once everything had been established and Alina had left, Elizabeth followed Edward to the kitchen to join him in partaking of the food the Major General had left for them. Once seated, she dug in. "Wow, this is good." She commented under her breath between bites, and then looked across the table at Edward when he spoke. Her cheeks flushed slightly again, and she nodded. "Er, yeah...you're right. Sounds like a good idea." Then her attention and focus fell on the food she was devouring, trying to keep her thoughts on the warm and deliciousness of the meal.

If she let herself, she might be reminded of the night they spent next door to one another in the hotel. Her thoughts would not fall on Envy, but on how she had felt and what she had been thinking the night before. She had begun to feel closer to Edward Elric for the first time in years, and it warmed her heart-and her cheeks-to even think of it. "Th-this food is really good. Who knew the Major General could cook." She marveled, trying to sound as genuine and focused on the meal as she possibly could.

Edward was stuffing food in his mouth as well he nodded. "No kidding. It's really good...it was nice of her to do all this for us." He said his food still in his mouth, stretching some. "I hope we can help her out in some way eventually." He mumbled, still stuffing his face with food. He glanced up at the ceiling and sighed softly, before standing. "Well. I'm going to head to sleep…you should probably do the same." He suggested, smiling some before starting to walk down the hall opening the bedroom door, he stopped and glanced back. "If you need anything…don't hesitate to wake me up." He said smiling some before walking back into his room, shutting the door, slipping off his shoes, pants and shirt before collapsing on the bed, basically passing out.

Elizabeth nodded in response, as she continued shoveling her plate of food into her mouth as well. She slowed to chew for a moment, staring at her plate in thought. She swallowed, and then looked up with a big grin on her face. "We'll figure out some way to pay her back. It's Equivalent Exchange." She giggled softly, then resumed eating and finally finished her meal a few minutes later. She nodded when he stood and headed off to bed. "I will." She smiled. "Thanks, Ed."

Then, once she was sure he was in his chosen room and asleep, she gathered all the dishes from the table and took them to the sink. There, doing a fairly decent job considering she only had use of one arm, she rinsed and cleaned all the dishes they had used by hand. Once they had been dried, she found where they belonged and put them all away. Satisfied, she made her way into the other spare room where she changed with some effort into her night clothes. Realizing this was futile because of her sling-a nurse had helped her earlier that day-she gave up and tossed her shirt aside, leaving her in just her pajama-pants and a sports bra she often slept in at night. Then she threw herself onto her bed and stared at the ceiling from under the covers for several minutes before realizing she was not going to be falling asleep any time soon.

Instead, she tip-toed her way back into the room filled with Alina's parents' research and picked up where she had left off-no one else was awake anyway, she assumed, so her decency was not at the forefront of her mind. A couple hours later, she noticed she had read the same sentence over and over again; she had begun to drift off and thus decided it was time to finally go to sleep. Elizabeth made her way as silently as possible to her room, where she gently closed the door, crawled into bed, curled up under the covers, and was soon out like a light...

* * *

The raven-haired girl awoke once in the middle of the night to use the restroom, then crawled back into bed when she had finished. There, she pulled the covers back over her and snuggled against the warmth at the center of the bed; it could get cold late at night in Amestris. Wait-her eyes shot open as her body finally registered something was amiss. The moon was shining its pale light through the room's window, but though she could see that out of the corner of her eye, something was blocking her view directly in front of her. Steel Wing lifted her left hand to touch it gently and carefully; it was warm...

Lifting her head slowly so as not to cause too much movement, she found herself almost touching noses with Edward Elric. Her eyes widened and her face flushed a deep shade of crimson when it dawned on her: she had gone into the wrong room! Though she remained perfectly still, on the inside she was panicking. If she moved again, she would wake him up, especially now that his right arm was draped over her body. A thought occurred to her that she was glad she was under the covers so he wasn't touching any of her bare skin. But her face warmed and turned an even deeper shade of red if that were possible when she realized he was not wearing a shirt either, and his chest was so warm...she could even feel his heartbeat-No. She was going to stop herself right there. She had to think clearly.

Edward was completely out, but his arm did tighten around her when she moved, his blonde hair in his face.

Elizabeth eventually managed to calm down, and since she could not move, she did what came naturally and fell asleep.


	11. Chapter 11: Caught in Memories

Ed stayed passed out until the following morning when his eyes slowly opened. He glanced down at the girl sleeping in his arms and turned his head away, his cheeks blushing bright red.

"Hey Edward-" Alina suddenly opened the door and blinked a few times, trying to process what she was seeing. "What the hell?!" The older woman yelled, glaring at the two young Alchemists formerly fast asleep...in the same bed.

Edward blinked and then his eyes widened as he turned to face the angry-looking woman. "Wh-What?! No! Major General it's not what it looks like! She-! I! I DON'T EVEN KNOW!" He yelled before sitting up. He really did not care much if he woke Elizabeth up; he was still bright red and confused.

Alina crossed her arms glaring slightly. "This is not what I brought you here for." She grumbled, smirking some. "What on earth would Mustang do if he found out?"

Edward just kept blushing "NOTHING HAPPENED!" He yelled at her, flailing.

* * *

The night continued on and passed rather uneventfully, and curled up against Ed's chest, Lizzy was able to have a deep, restful sleep. It was only when the yelling started the following morning that she woke up, though slowly. As soon as she realized the Major General was in the room-and heard Mustang's name mentioned, she sat bolt upright and began scrambling. "N-no! Sir, it's not like that! I-I'm really sorry! I was up late, and I walked into the wrong bedroom, and-" She was looking around as though the correct answer was somewhere in the room.

That was how she ended up looking down and remembering she had not been able to put a shirt on the night before. Her face flushed bright red once again, and she quickly pulled a blanket over her with her left arm and held it tightly in place. "N-nothing happened, sir. Please don't tell Mustang. It won't happen again." She promised. Lizzy felt guilty, but part of her could not find it in her heart to truly regret this accidental occurrence.

Alina smiled and laughed. "Relax, I don't care if nothing happened, or if something did happened, I'm not your relative, I'm just your superior officer, nothing more, so I could really care less." She said before waving her hand. "In any case, I made breakfast; it's on the table when you two lovebirds decide to finally get up." She said, grinning.

Alina was in the blue pants and black shirt of the military outfit and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail; in other words, she was basically dressed and ready for the day. After she was finished teasing the two young Alchemists, Alina continued to walk down the hall and into her kitchen before starting to eat the food she had made.

Steel Wing stared at the Major General in disbelief. They had absolutely just been thoroughly played by this woman. She had seemed to angry, and to hear that she was only kidding and did not actually care...it was a relief, but left the raven-haired girl stunned at the same time. When Alina called them "lovebirds" her cheeks darkened again and she looked away quickly.

Edward was still blushing as he just stared forward, realizing both of them had just been thoroughly played. Slowly he stood and put on his pants and his shirt before glancing back at Elizabeth, smiling some. "I…really have never slept better." He said with a small smirk, before stretching and sighing. He knew it was going to be a long day of studying again.

Once Alina was gone, Lizzy sighed and fell back onto the pillow she had just been sleeping on. "That was so not funny..." She grumbled to herself under her breath, throwing her left arm over her eyes in a motion of exasperation. Elizabeth lifted her arm and let it fall to her side when Ed spoke. Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink, but she did not look away and instead smiled at him brightly. "Neither have I." She replied, realizing she really could not remember the last time she had slept that well.

Ed walked out of the guest room and into the kitchen and stared in awe at the table. It was practically a breakfast buffet in front of him, and he glanced to Alina before looking back at the table. "How the hell did you learn how to cook like this?!"

Alina blinked and looked over at him "Well, as I said, I got taken up by someone…well, a few people...I had to repay them somehow."

After Edward left, Lizzy stood and walked into her room. There, she glared at her discarded shirt as though it was the cause of all her distress. There was no way she was going to attempt pulling it on again, so instead she pulled her black and white jacket around her shoulders. Then she exited the room and walked to the kitchen, staring in awe at the rich buffet before her. "Wow, this looks great!" She took a seat where she had the previous night and made herself a plate. "Thank you, Major General!" But before she began eating, she pulled her jacket more tightly around her, and then glanced across the table at Alina. "Um, sir? Do you think after breakfast you could...help me?" She asked bashfully, looking down and indicating her lack of shirt. She was definitely going to need help with this, and Alina was the only woman around. Asking Edward was way too embarrassing and out of the question.

Edward was already stuffing his face full of food, He knew they would forget to eat lunch; they would both be too interested in the research.

Alina heard Lizzy she looked up and smiled slightly. "Of course-however it'll have to be soon, I have meeting I have to be to in a half hour, and I'll never hear the end of it from the Fuhrer if I'm late." She said, laughing some. "So if you wouldn't mind my assistance now before you start to eat, it'd make my life a lot easier." She said, smiling before standing; she put on her military jacket before buttoning the front of it, and moving her hair from under it.

Elizabeth nodded and stood, agreeing that it would probably be best to have Alina help her now before she began devouring nearly everything in sight.

Alina led Lizzy down the hall. The black-haired girl grabbed her shirt and handed it to Alina, who untied the girl's sling for her. She then helped her get her shirt on before tying it up once again, and as she was doing that she glanced at her arm. "You know you really only have to wear this for a few more days, you're arm looks to be healing just fine. In all honesty, I'm not sure you really need to wear this when you're doing nothing but reading." Alina said before shaking her head. "But I suppose you should listen to the doctors and not me." She smiled some before starting to walk away and toward the front door.

Elizabeth remained still for the most part, only moving when it was necessary, to help. "Thanks." She murmured softly, then blinked and looked down at her healing flesh arm. "Oh, er, I suppose you're right. I guess I wouldn't mind having it off for a while. Thank you." She murmured, blushing slightly. She looked like she was about to say more, but decided to keep it to herself instead. Reaching back with her automail arm, Elizabeth untied it slowly, then slowly and cautiously stretched out her arm. It was painful at first, only because her elbow and shoulder were stiff, but then it began to feel better after a few moments of her working through the aching pain.

"Have fun you two, and try to remember to eat. If you need me call me at work, I'll be in my office almost all day." She said before shutting the door behind her. She sighed softly and walked to Central Headquarters.

Leaving the sling on the bed, Lizzy followed Alina back down the hall and into the kitchen, where she sat down at the table and heaped some more food on her plate. Then she finally began shoveling food into her mouth, of the same mind as Edward, that once they began researching, they were unlikely to stop for much. Elizabeth nodded and called another "thank you" to the Major General as she left, then resumed eating.

* * *

The Major General's arms were behind her back as she entered the room in which the meeting would be held. "'Morning." She said, saluting her higher-ups before taking her seat. As the meeting began, Alina silently glanced over to Mustang who looked absolutely miserable. She smirked slightly, though she would hold her smug laughter until later; she was not really paying attention until she heard,

"Scar has returned to Central."

The second she heard that her eyes widened, and her hands clenched into fists. Alina stared at the table top in silence, looking shocked. She was not expecting him to show up again, at least not any time soon.

"You are all dismissed."

Alina quickly stood and left.

Roy watched the Major General leave and raised a brow slightly though he chose not to say anything.

Alina walked past Riza and looked over to her, her eyes watering slightly. "Good Morning, Major." She smiled slightly, before she walked down the hall and to her office.

Outside the meeting being held amongst the higher-ups, the newly-appointed Major Hawkeye stood alert and at attention, waiting for the newly-appointed Brigadier General Mustang to finish and come out. The first to exit the room was Major General Alina Stryker, and Riza was surprised at the look on the fellow female officer's face, though she did her best not to show it. "Good morning, sir." She replied, saluting. Then she saluted Roy Mustang as well when he finally came out of the room. "How did it go?" She asked, partially out of courtesy but also out of curiosity. It was really meant to be a hypothetical question, however, in case anyone was listening.

Roy walked out, and looked over to her. "Did you see her?" He mumbled rubbing his head slightly.

"...I did, sir. What do you think made her react that way?" She asked, as she had not been able to be present at this meeting, nor had she been able to hear anything from out in the hall. At the same time, she had little hope he had really been paying that much attention to what was being said at this particular meeting in his condition...

Roy was still rubbing his head he still had a throbbing headache his eyes were sore, his whole body hurt, he really regretting drinking so much before he had such an important meeting, but he did forget about it. "I don't know." He grumbled. "Something about…tar?" he groaned before trudging back into his office putting his head on his desk sighing. "Man I'm tired…Why did I do this to myself again?" He grumbled still.

Major Hawkeye sighed and walked past him, fighting the strong urge to roll her eyes. "I'm certain it will come back to you later, sir." She stated confidently, or perhaps threateningly; it was often difficult to tell. "Who can say, sir? It was your choice to drink so heavily the night before an important meeting." She dead-panned, no pity in her voice whatsoever.

Roy glanced back at her. "I know," He groaned. "You don't need to remind me." He said before he just shut his eyes, his head still on his desk. He knew not to expect an ounce of sympathy from the blonde haired female in front of him, but he still hoped…he always would.

Major Hawkeye let out a silent sigh, then turned and left the room. She came back a moment later with a glass of water, which she set down on Roy Mustang's desk, directly in front of him. "Drinking plenty of water should help, sir." She said monotonously, then took a seat at another smaller desk in the room where she could get some paperwork done. There was always something to do, especially in Mustang's office, where everything seemed to be behind much of the time.

Roy glanced up at her and smiled slightly. "Thanks, Major." He whispered before starting to drink the water slowly.

Hawkeye nodded. "You're welcome, sir." Though she seemed very involved in the paperwork already, as though she were not really paying attention to him. But, as usual, she was, she was just very strict about her emotions.

* * *

Once Elizabeth had finished eating, she cleared as many dishes as she could and put away the rest of the food. Again, she did all of this with one hand, though she did not even seem to notice. At the sink, she paused, leaning over the edge slightly. "Hey, Ed?" She spoke suddenly. Her voice was soft, but it carried well enough to reach him. "What does all this remind you of?" She asked softly, not looking up from the now-empty sink; her onyx bangs fell over her eyes, hiding their midnight blue hues.

Edward was helping her, he blinked when she spoke and he smiled some. "The good ol' days…back when we were kids." He said laughing. "We always left Winry out of everything…All we're missing is Alphonse helping us study and Winry nagging us to tell her what we're talking about…" He said smiling some, but it soon faded as he remember what The Major General had said about their one hope for getting their bodies back. "Do you think we'll be able to finish her parent's research…?" He whispered softly. "I honestly don't know if we can." He then shook his head before smiling some stretching. "Well we should get reading, after all we know how quick the time passes when we're not conscious to the rest of the world!" He said before starting to walk toward the room again.

Elizabeth nodded, smiling and snorting softly. "Yeah, that too." She murmured, and then fell quiet for a few minutes. "We'll find a way, Ed. We have to." She murmured with confidence, waving her left arm dismissively. There was really no question; they had to find a way, so they would, and they would get their bodies back without using living humans. She fell quiet again, letting Edward speak. But before he left the room, the dark-haired girl finally spoke up again. "...All this delicious homemade food, the room full of Alchemical research...It reminds me of my mom and dad. Of your..." Elizabeth trailed off, suddenly losing herself in her thoughts.

After being silent for a moment, she suddenly burst out laughing, though it sounded somewhat forced. "I'm sorry. I don't know where all that came from." The raven-haired girl turned around to face him finally, ruffling her bangs slightly with her left hand. There was a smile on her face, but her eyes were fighting back the sadness she was holding inside. "Too much nostalgia, I guess. Come on, we should get reading, right?" As she spoke this time, she brushed past him, heading for the room full of books, journals, and general research. Reaching out had been difficult for her since she lost her family, and this time was no different. So instead of reaching out, she tried to hold everything in and keep her deepest thoughts to herself. Elizabeth had been doing so well at this for years; she had even managed to keep a few things from herself...

Edward nodded slightly and smiled. "Still, it's nice to remember the happy moments…" He said smiling slightly before opening the door and walking in before falling over on the floor reading a journal he had left open. He knew that time would pass in a matter of seconds for both of them, which he was happy about the one thing he enjoyed doing was research, most of the time anyway. After all it let his mind stay on track to one thing and only one thing, and didn't allow his mind to wander off too quickly.

Elizabeth smiled to herself as she entered the research room. Edward was right, and she should not be focusing on sadness at the moment; they had important work and research to do. As much as she missed her family, and though her heart had ached at the thought of them, the moment Ed spoke, she felt better. She still had friends, and they were really more like family to her anyway; and she still had Roy, and he was as good as any older brother possibly could be. So it was time to get back to reading, and lose herself in the books. The moment Elizabeth sat down and picked up one she had not yet read-she had made herself a stack the night before of books and journals that seemed to be connected and go in a particular order-she became unaware of anything else going on around her.

* * *

In a few hours, Mustang rubbed his head some; he was starting to remember the meeting better. "Hawkeye…Alina got like that when someone mentioned Scar was back in Central." He mumbled. He wasn't sure why, he supposed it was possible Scar had hurt someone she cared about and she got like the because of it, but he wasn't sure, he never could be, especially still having a light headache, but he was glad it was slowly dissipating, and as much as he regretted doing it, he was sure he'd end up doing it to himself again. He wasn't used to having to go to all the meetings of the higher ups, after all when he was Colonel he had his own meetings he always had to attend but they weren't early in the morning, and they were never with the Fuhrer. He soon just grinned again, he was happy though, he was now only three ranks away from the job he was here for, to climb to the top.

A few hours later, as Major Hawkeye was working out a slight discomfort in her wrist, she heard the Brigadier General say her name, and looked up. She was quiet for a moment, thinking, and came to the same conclusion he had, that perhaps Scar had hurt someone Alina cared about. It was not such a far stretch, and her reaction to his name would make sense. "It's a very real possibility, sir." Her expression changed to one nearing annoyance, however, when she noticed his thoughts were wandering. Judging by the goofy look on his face, he was likely inwardly gloating or celebrating his promotion. Then a thought occurred to her and she blinked, and her face returned to her usual, "bored" expression. Riza considered asking him if he had spoken to his cousin since his promotion, but she decided against it. The raven-haired girl was likely in the middle of something since they had not seen or heard from her since the day before, and Mustang would likely make up some ridiculous story about a reaction she did not have anyway...

* * *

Edward was still nose deep in the journals, and although a lot of the time he was dead to the world, every time he got to a page with a lot of blood on it, or it bringing up how many people got killed for a certain stone, he snapped back to reality and one of the times he did, he heard his stomach growl in hunger, before glancing over to Lizzy, he gently poked her before smiling some. "Maybe…we should actually eat for once...while we're researching."

Elizabeth had to breathe deeply through the journals with blood on them, but fortunately she was usually so wrapped up in what she was reading, she did not notice unless blood covered some of the words or pictures she was trying to study. At some point she was distantly aware of an odd sound, but her mind dismissed it. She nearly missed Edward poking her, but when it was accompanied by his voice, she looked up. It took Lizzy's mind a moment to pull itself from the pages and register what he was saying, but when his words processed, she blinked. "Oh…yeah, probably. Leftovers?" Then she stood and stretched before heading into the kitchen, wincing when she heard and felt something pop. She winced at the ache in her ribs, but pushed the pain aside and made her way towards the kitchen, where she took out the few leftovers from last night and that morning.

Studying what they had to work with, she went to work combining some of the food into a whole new meal without really thinking about it. Her parents had taught her how to cook before they-passed, and she knew a thing or two about making good food. Not that she normally took the time to do so for herself, hence the reason it had been a while since she had had a home-cooked meal. Even with only one fully-functioning hand, she managed to prepare and serve the food in a relatively short amount of time. After passing Edward a large plate, she sat down with her own and dug in. It was impressive, though she did not seem to either acknowledge it, or did not care to.

Edward blinked and smiled some. "Thanks but I…I could have done this myself." He said crossing his arms over his chest, "I mean…I could have at least helped you, or…something." He said before sitting at the table starting to eat.

"You know I've been thinking about this for a while now…and I'm wondering if you'd been thinking the same..." He said swallowing what was in his mouth before looking up at her. "Don't you find it weird that the Major General never really said anything about where she went after she..well you know killed her parents.." He whispered softly. "It's like that's one thing she doesn't want to remember yet whenever she talks about the guy that saves her, she looks…happy…I don't know maybe I'm just sleep deprived." He said, shrugging.

Elizabeth glanced up at Edward, and then looked at him as if to say, "Shut up and eat already." "It's no big deal." She muttered around the food in her cheek, and then swallowed. "I basically just rearranged it and reheated it. I hope it tastes okay." Then she continued eating, doing so as he spoke, though she was still listening. Rather intently, as a matter of fact.

At first she thought he was going to bring up an entirely different subject, so when he began talking about the Major General, she nearly fell out of her chair. Though she tried not to show it. After nearly choking on it, she swallowed the food that was in her mouth before speaking. "O-oh. Well, yeah, but maybe she just doesn't want to talk about it. I mean, when she told us, she didn't exactly tell us every tiny detail of her life story-it kind of seemed like she summed it up and made the point she needed to make at the time." She paused, thinking about it a little more. "I think you're right about at least one thing, though: she does seem pretty happy when she talks about the guy who saved her."

Then she grinned, leaning across the table and poking Ed with the other end of her fork. "Maybe she loooves him. Is _that _what you're trying to ask, Ed? Why so curious, anyway?" Then she laughed, shoveling in a couple more quick bites before she finished. "We can speculate all we want, but my guess is the Major General is the kind of woman who will tell us what we want to know when she feels like it, and there's no point in asking a moment sooner. Or..." She got a mischievous, but still teasing glint in her eye. "Are you suggesting we snoop, _Fullmetal_?"

Edward coughed into his hand slightly and kept eating. "I might be. It's just weird, she's willing to tell us all this but not even the guy's name? It just seems off to me. I don't know maybe I'm over thinking things from reading so much." He said shrugging. "But I think you agree." He said smirking some, before finishing the food on his plate. He had no idea she thought he was going to talk about something else, in all honesty he was too dense to realize how much he loved her, so he'd probably never bring it up to her unless someone else pointed out his feelings for her. "But if you don't think we should since you're such a good little angel when it comes to superiors, I suppose I could understand." He said grinning some before walking over o the sink washing his plate.

Elizabeth continued eating as he continued speaking, nodding every so often to confirm her agreement. It was a little bit odd, Alina telling them so much then carefully avoiding the use of this "savior's" name. Part of her felt somewhat guilty at the idea of looking through someone else's things, especially after she had been so kind and opened up her home to them. At the same time, she did not think it would be too big a deal if they knew. Besides, perhaps their Equivalent Exchange could be getting the Major General back in touch with this person. The way the older woman spoke of them, it seemed like she had not seen them in a while and missed them. So really they could and would be helping her, she thought.

Not to mention the feeling of guilt dissipated almost as soon as Edward challenged Elizabeth and basically called her a "goody-two-shoes". "Excuse me? Me? A 'good little angel'? Who do you think you're talking to? I'm related to Roy, remember?" Smirking, she stood to clean her empty plate in the sink as well. "If _you're_ scared, though, I completely understand. We wouldn't want the _little_ Alchemist getting in trouble now, would we?" She teased, sticking her tongue out at him as she put her plate away.

He glared before walking over to her. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO LITTLE YOU HAVE TO USE A MAGNIFYING GLASS TO SEE, HUH, LIZZY?!" He yelled, flailing at her, before coughing and looking away "I'm not scared at all." He then put his hand to his chin. "Where to start, though..." He whispered staring at the ground thinking, his amber optics looking deep in thought. "I don't even know, it's not like we have any leads, we don't even know where she's originally from…If we could figure that out, we could at least eliminate a few countries…" He said, rubbing his chin some, before glancing over to her. "You got any ideas?" He was stumped, but he was really hoping Lizzy would have more ideas than him…like she always seemed to.

Lizzy laughed and held up her hands in front of her, acting mockingly afraid, though she was not at all. "I didn't say that, dummy!" Then she laughed more genuinely, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. Placing her left hand on her hip, she looked around. "My guess is she's from here-Amestris, I mean. She looks it, anyway. We could start with that. But we have no idea what city or town she's from... But we don't even need to go that far, Ed. If this person meant so much to her, she's bound to have a photograph or two of them, or even the two of them together, right? We could just start by looking around here."

She was already in research mode, and it was a wonder she managed to finish her sentence because her eyes were already exploring. Then she removed herself from the kitchen, walking slowly around the apartment. First she checked hallways and other areas that were open and not blocked off somehow. It was a military officer's apartment, though, so not surprisingly there was not all that much to look at to begin with. If they were going to find something of importance, it was likely they were going to need to check the closed off areas, like rooms...

Edward walked in another direction, but he was having no luck at all, there was no way she cared this much about someone and didn't have one picture of the two of them together. He soon sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Any luck?" He said, he was getting frustrated, but they still hadn't checked her room, and Edward wasn't sure if he was brave enough to go in there, after all, even if he was curious about all this, Alina still scared him a lot more then he'd ever admit. "Did you go into her room yet?" He asked, hoping to god, she said yes, Edward wasn't sure what he'd find in there but he was more afraid of young Major General finding them in there and possibly drown them.

They had searched all over the apartment, with no luck. She also found it very difficult, in fact, almost impossible to believe the Major General would not have a single picture with or of this person she cared so much about anywhere. Even if the female officer did not seem very sentimental now, Elizabeth had a feeling she must have been at some point or another. When she found Edward again, she sighed, scratching her head. "None, you?" She asked rhetorically, still searching with her eyes for some kind of hint. Edward seemed to read her mind, and though she was somewhat hesitant because she did not want Alina to drown them either, she knew this was going to keep bugging them until they at least checked. "Not yet." She turned her head and looked at him meaningfully, lowering her left hand slowly from her head. The look on his face told her he wanted to at least look as badly as she did. "...Together?"

Edward slowly nodded. "Might as well..." he whispered softly, before inhaling. "I mean, it's not like she'll be back anytime soon right?" He whispered before walking down the hall toward her room he gently reached forward and grabbed the handle before turning it and pushing it open, his amber eyes glanced around, her room was incredibly clean, but it didn't look like there was any pictures anywhere, but his eyes locked onto a small piece of paper that was neatly folded on her bed-side table, he slowly walked over and opened it, and sighed slightly, it was a letter she had seemed to written to this person but there was no name or anything on it. "Well that was a dead end." He grumbled, before crossing his arms over his chest he then turned and sweat-dropped shaking slightly.

Elizabeth nodded, and then took a deep breath. "Right. Probably not until later." Then she turned and followed him down the hall and to Alina's bedroom. Once they were inside, she wandered around the room slowly, searching every nook and cranny. She was looking for photographs, but also for anything else that might indicate a hidden compartment or something. She was about to check under the bed when she noticed Edward picking up the note on her nightstand. He only seemed to check for the name, but she wanted to read it and see if there were any clues whatsoever written on it. She reached for it to take it from Ed, but did not get the chance to even look it over. She noticed him shaking, looking at something, and a wave of horror washed over her as she realized why he was trembling.

"What the hell are you two doing in here?" Alina's eyes were glowing red, her fists were tightly clenched.

Elizabeth shoved the note into her back pocket quickly, making sure it was completely hidden, as she spun around to face the potential bringer of their deaths. "U-um, w-well, sir, you see...we were just...um..." She was trying desperately to think of some reason or excuse for why they were in there other than the truth, even if it was a stupid one, but her mind had gone blank. It was up to Fullmetal to save them now.

Edward was just sweat-dropping "Well uh…You see Lizzy was...in a lot of pain, and we were trying to find some…medications for her but we couldn't so we figured maybe you had some." He said smiling some.

Elizabeth kept glancing over at Edward, hoping the Major General would buy the story he was giving her. It seemed to be working, so she began to nod, as though confirming what Ed was telling her was true.

Alina just stared at him her arms crossed over her chest. She eyed them both before scoffing. "Sure, fine, I'll believe you." She mumbled, "I just stopped at home to pick something up, and when I didn't see you two in the kitchen or the study I started to get worried." She said before starting to leave "All of my medications are in that drawer." She said pointing to the top of her dresser. "Next time, just call me instead of snooping around." She hissed, before shutting the front door.

"Thank you! We will, sir!" Elizabeth called, and then held her breath until she heard the front door close. As soon as she heard the door shut, then lock, she exhaled the breath she had not realized she had been holding. "What...the hell. What the hell did she need to pick up?" Elizabeth asked, though she was not really certain she cared about the answer. She was just happy they were alive. In her relief, she threw her arm around the back of Edward's neck, hugging him tightly as tears streamed comically down her cheeks. "We're alive...!" She exclaimed, though her voice was still somewhat squeaky, still coming back after fear had gripped her. Then she quickly let her blond friend go, clearing her throat and looking away to hide the blush on her cheeks. She really wanted to know what the note said, but she was too afraid to pull it out right now. It would have to wait until later, when she was certain the Major General would not walk in and catch her. Lizzy quickly left the room, muttering, "Er, we should probably just get back to reading..."

He nodded and returned her hug. "I know, I thought for sure we were going to drown." He said tears streaming down his face as well, but he let her go and laughed some. "I really don't think she believed us…she just seemed in a hurry." He mumbled before nodding. "Yeah, maybe we should." He said before walking back to the study sitting back down starting to read again, in his fear he failed to notice the fact that Alina's eyes were still barely watering. He picked up another journal and started reading that one, his eyes scanning the pages quickly, he was glad she didn't press any farther, he knew she didn't believe them at all about it, but with how she just brushed it off, he was thinking there was nothing in the note or anything in her room that she was afraid for them to see, but he just stopped thinking about it and went back to reading.

Elizabeth thought about what Edward had said as they returned to the room filled with Alina's parents' research. "I think you're right. We still got lucky." She added, and then let out a nervous laugh. She too had failed to notice the tears forming in the Major General's eyes, too focused on the thought of the note and of trying to come up with an excuse for their trespassing.

Back in the spare room filled with Alchemical research, Lizzy got back to work reading from another pile she had made. Before long her mind had moved far away from what had just happened and their near-death experience, and she was lost in the pages again.

* * *

Several hours later, Steel Wing seemed to have finally run out of things to read. She also found her body in need of stretching, and that got her looking up at the clock. As she stood and stretched, she let out a low whistle. "Wow, is it that late already?" She murmured to herself, then turned around to find Ed and nudged him gently with her toe. "Hey. Ed. I think I got through everything, how about you?" She stretched again, and this time she yawned as well. "Why don't we leave for the night, compare notes tomorrow?" She suggested, and then left the room to see if the Major General was home.

The blonde soon stretched and nodded. "I did, and that sounds like a good idea, I'm sure Alphonse is worried about me." He said yawning some before standing. He soon followed after her to see if Alina was, in fact home.

Lizzy nodded and smiled softly. "Yeah, same with Roy..." She murmured softly; she wondered what her cousin was up to, and hoped he had known where she was.

They found Major General Stryker sitting at the table with a small glass of wine in her shockingly glove-less hands. Her hair was covering her face, and the second she heard footsteps she glanced up and smiled slightly. "So, you guys are all finished, are you?" She asked, tilting her head. "You two certainly can read quickly…if you ever need to borrow anything, just ask." She said before glancing back at the table. "Oh, yes, Steel Wing, Mustang asked that when you get there tonight to wake him, he said he'd probably be completely out by the time you returned to his place."

"Yes, we are." Elizabeth said, returning the smile. "Thank you, sir. We will" Her question about her cousin was answered soon enough without her even having to ask. "Oh-alright, I will. Thanks." She said, a bit caught off-guard. But deep down, she was rather happy to know Roy had wanted a message delivered to her.

Edward blinked a few times, something seemed off with the Major General but he said nothing about it. "Well, Major General, I'm going to head out, I'm sure Alphonse is worried sick about me. Good night." He said with a small smile before starting to leave.

"Be safe, Fullmetal." Alina called after him.

The Major General was acting a bit differently, but Elizabeth felt they had invaded her privacy enough for one day, and left it alone. "I'm going, too. Goodnight. We'll see you later, Major General Stryker!" She called, attempting a sloppy salute with her right hand, then giving up and simply waving with her left.

Alina nodded and waved to them both. "Be careful, both of you." She said smiling some.

* * *

Lizzy followed Edward out, closing the door gently behind her. Once they were outside, she smiled at Ed slyly. "So~ are you going to be a gentleman and walk me home, or what?" She was only kidding; she did not actually expect he would. Turning as she laughed, she began walking in the direction of Roy Mustang's apartment building. "G'night, 'Fullmetal'." She called, waving casually over her shoulder.

Edward laughed slightly. "Please, only if you really want me too." He said smiling when she said good night. "Good night, Steel Wing." He said before walking toward his own apartment. He was sure Alphonse was worried sick, and he was surprised he hadn't tried to find him yet.

Elizabeth's smile widened as Edward bid her goodnight, but she did not turn around to allow him to see it. Instead she kept walking, and after a while she began humming softly to herself. She was in a rather good mood; it very likely had something to do with her "good night's sleep" the night before, but she did not seem to realize such. That or she simply chose not to acknowledge it.

Ed walked to his apartment and opened the door smiling some. "Brother, I'm home!" He said, grinning. Alphonse came running to the door. "Oh, good! I was so worried about you; you could have at least called." Edward rubbed the back of his head. Sorry Al, I was…really busy researching some stuff."

* * *

When Lizzy finally reached Roy's apartment, she let herself in, then locked the door behind her and hung up her red coat, gently kicking her shoes off and leaving them by the door as well. She checked for her things and found them sitting near the door also; she would attempt changing into her pajamas or just do what she had done the previous night after she figured out where her cousin was. "Hey, Roy, I'm back!" She called softly, looking around for him some. She guessed he was already asleep as his message from Alina had suggested, now the question was, where?

Roy was passed out on the couch. He still had his military pants on the white button up shirt and the black skin tight shirt beneath it; all he managed to take off before passing out was his jacket. His head was throbbing still even in his sleeping, hearing someone call out to him he yawned slightly, and opened an eye. "Hey." he groaned slowly sitting up rubbing his head. "You can have my room." He groaned before lying back on the couch and shutting his eyes, almost instantly falling asleep again. But before he did, one of his eyes opened again. "I hope the Major General was kind to you and Fullmetal." He said smiling some "Did you happen to see her before you left?" He mumbled. He was worried about her; she had seemed like she was moping all day.

Elizabeth had been thinking, possibly even hoping Roy had been sleeping in his room. She began to walk in that direction, but when she heard him speak she turned around and looked down, and found him on the couch still almost fully dressed. She sighed, but smiled affectionately at him, shaking her head some. "Thanks." She was not going to argue since she could not really see him moving that far right now anyway, but she walked over to the couch and stood at the end of it for a moment.

She was a little surprised when he spoke again, and paused in what she had been about to do. "Oh-yeah, she was. She's pretty nice, actually." She said, nodding as if to affirm her own thoughts. Reaching out, she grabbed one of her cousin's boots and untied it, then yanked it off. She thought about dropping it onto the floor to scare him, but decided against it. It would be loud, and likely worsen the headache she could tell he still had. Which would serve him right, but she was simply in too good a mood at the moment. "Yes." She seemed like she had more to say, but took a moment to think about and choose her words while she repeated her helpful action with his second boot. "She was acting a bit different than usual, though. I didn't ask, but something didn't seem quite right. Women's intuition, I guess." She added with a tiny smirk.

"…Thanks." He grumbled as she took off his boots for him. "Strange." he said before shrugging. "I don't see how she could get so upset after one meeting…" He yawned again, before laying back down. "Well, good night, Elizabeth, sleep well." He mumbled before completely passing back out on the sofa. He didn't really plan to fall asleep on the couch he just sort of did. He was glad his headache was at least slowly going away, but he had no idea why it was lasting so long. Usually he had fought them off rather quickly, but not this time.

Lizzy shrugged, smiling softly. "Who's going to take care of you if I don't? Hm? You?" She asked teasingly. Then the conversation turned to the Major General, and she bit her lip thoughtfully. "It was after the meeting?" She asked under her breath, somewhat relieved it was not because of her and Edward. This definitely gave her something to think about. But first she had her cousin to finish taking care of before she would go to bed. "Goodnight, Roy. You, too." Once she was certain he was asleep, she tip-toed out of the room as silently as possible and got a spare blanket.

Returning to the room where Roy was passed out on the couch, she spread it over him gently, then tucked him in. She disappeared again, this time into the kitchen, and came back with a nice cold glass of water. It should still be chilled, even if he drank it later. Elizabeth set it on a small table beside the couch, and then knelt down beside her cousin. "Sweet dreams, Roy." She whispered, and then kissed him gently and quickly on the forehead. She noticed some heat, but he did not have enough of a fever for her to really think much of it.

"And congratulations, Brigadier General." She added in a soft whisper, and then smiled to herself as she stood and walked silently into his room. Lizzy did not bother taking her shirt off, just removed everything else and changed into her pajama bottoms instead. She felt something in the pocket of her pants as she wiggled them off, and remembered the note she had nearly forgotten. Pulling it out carefully, she opened it and read it over. "Well that's..." '…_cryptic._' She thought, frowning. This did not give her much to go on, but it was enough to get her thoughts going again. She laid in bed for several hours, unable to sleep because of all the thoughts running through her head. Eventually, she began to drift off...

* * *

As Alina drank the last bit of wine her glass she sighed softly… Her hand was on her head now, "I shouldn't be getting my hopes up…I'm not going to see him. I never do…" She whispered softly, clenching her fists before putting more wine in her glass. She wasn't going to get herself drunk, though; she wasn't that stupid.


	12. Chapter 12: Recovery and Surprises

Sometime in the middle of the night, Roy sat up and coughed, rubbing his forehead softly; he was burning up. He groaned and fell back on the couch, hiding his eyes under his arm, coughing loudly again.

* * *

She did not know how much time had passed, but sometime in the middle of the night, Elizabeth snapped awake suddenly. She was certain she had heard something-yes, there it was again, a cough. She threw the blankets off of herself and walked quietly out into the room where her cousin was supposed to be sleeping. "Roy? Are you okay?" She called softly, hoping she had only been imagining it because she was so tired. She really hoped he was still asleep...

Roy was coughing again, shivering slightly under the blankets. "I'm fine, Elizabeth just go back to sle—" He started coughing again, sitting up, still shivering as he did. He knew he was sick; he had a feeling he must have been because of the throbbing headache he had all day. No matter how much he drank the night before, he never had a headache that long because of it. Once he finished coughing he lay back down and pulled the sheet over his head. "…sleep." He finished his sentence, still hiding his face from her. Had he not been, he looked miserable, his head was still throbbing, and his eyes were slightly bloodshot, and she would have seen it. "You need your sleep I'm sure..." He mumbled, pulling the blanket tighter over his head, his hand slowly reached out just to get the glass of water on the table before starting to drink it, shutting his eyes as the cold water traveled down his warm throat. It felt good, but at the same time only made him colder. He hated being sick.

Elizabeth ignored her cousin and hurried across the room, kneeling down beside the couch and holding her arms out towards him. She mostly wanted to be certain he did not fall off the couch or something. When he was finished coughing and finally finished telling her to go back to sleep, she shook her head. "Shut up. I'm fine; you're the one who's sick." She reached under the blanket after he was finished sipping the water and tugged gently on his forearm. "Come on, you need to sleep in your own bed." She knew he was going to be stubborn, so she added: "Under the nice warm blankets. Where you can sweat this out. Come on." She coaxed him, tugging again. There was not a chance she was going to take no for an answer right now, and just let her sick cousin sleep on his couch while she took his bed. She stood up slowly as she gently tugged on his arm again, hoping he would follow her. Then she would help him to his bed so he would not fall over. This was not the first time she had done this, for him or for other members of her family, so she was certain she could bear his weight well enough to help...

Roy groaned. "Elizabeth I'm fine." He said again but still went with her, even if he didn't want to. He was tired, and his whole body ached; he just wanted to stay on his couch and never move again. He could barely walk, but he still barely leaned on Elizabeth.

The raven-haired girl shook her head stubbornly. "No, you're not." She helped him to his bedroom, letting him lean on her as much as he needed to. She was strong enough to hold him, and she did her best to do so even as he tried not to lean on her too much.

He walked into his room where she helped lower him gently onto his bed before running out of the room. Roy shut his eyes tightly; he knew she was right. He had to sweat this out and get better before the morning, but he knew that wouldn't happen. Even so he knew he had to show up, no matter how crappy he felt, so he had to at least hope he would feel slightly better in the few hours left of sleeping he had.

Elizabeth was back in a matter of seconds, carrying his cooled, refilled glass of water. Lizzy sat down on the edge of the bed next to him as she held the cup out to him, waiting for him to open his eyes so he could take it.

Dark blue eyes shifted over to Elizabeth and he smiled slightly. "Thanks…" he whispered. "And also thanks for the congratulations, I may have been half asleep but I could hear you." He said smiling still before putting his arm over his eyes again coughing and groaning once more.

"Don't mention it." She spoke softly in reply. Then her face froze, and though he may or may not have been able to see her in the dark, she was glaring. Elizabeth put his hands around the cold glass, making him take it from her if he had not already done so, and then inched away from him until she was sitting at the end of the bed. She would not look at him for several minutes, either sulking or deeply embarrassed.

Roy sat up slightly and started drinking the water, he blinked a few times looking at her. "Don't worry, I'm not going to make a big deal...I'm too sick to. Besides, I can only come up with crazy stories when I'm drunk." He whispered, smiling some. "But you should sleep." He whispered softly, glancing at the bed before laying back down still holding the glass in his hands. "You need your sleep—I can tell you haven't slept yet, if you had you would not have heard me coughing." He whispered still. Then he gently set the glass on the table before shutting his eyes, stretching, cringing as he did. All of his muscles ached. He shut his eyes and coughed again. "And not buts Elizabeth—go to sleep."

Elizabeth let out a quiet "humph" sound, but still refused to look at him for another moment or two. Finally she rolled her eyes, turning around to look at him again. "That's an understatement." She grumbled, fully aware of his wild story-telling abilities when he was drunk. Then she shook her head, standing and walking over to where she was sitting before, just standing beside his bed. She looked down at him, placing her hands on her hips gently and quirking a brow. "I did, actually. Your coughing just woke me up is all." She said with a tiny smile, gently teasing him. It was true, actually; she had managed to get a few hours of sleep before his coughing had awoken her, though she was okay with that. She wanted to take care of him and help him feel better; he was the only blood-family she had left. But he was being stubborn about wanting her to sleep, and she did not want to cause him any stress. She would likely just return anyway once he was fast asleep. "Yeah, yeah..." She muttered, making her way to the door. "Oh, and you had better sleep in." She said from the door way. "You're not moving from that bed. I'm calling you in first thing in the morning." Then she shut the door behind her without waiting for or allowing an argument from him.

"Wait, what? You ca-" Mustang sighed when she shut the door, but after that he just groaned. "Women…" He mumbled before turning on his side shutting his eyes. He started coughing again, but soon pulled the blankets over his head slowly starting to fall asleep. Once he was out, though, he was dead to the world. He shivered every now and then but nothing too bad. He cuddled into the blankets and sighed softly in his sleep.

* * *

Elizabeth spent most of the night curled up in the blanket she had laid over Roy when he was sleeping on the couch. Except she was curled up on his bedroom floor, unwilling to leave his side all night. Come morning, she got up and, making sure he was still asleep, went into the kitchen to make a good, healthy breakfast for him. There was not much to work with, since this was a guy's apartment, but she managed to find enough to make him eggs and toast, plus fresh orange juice from the actual fruit-that she had to take a short walk for. But it was better for him, so it was worth it, she had decided.

* * *

The next morning Roy's eyes fluttered open as he felt the sun peeking in his window. He groaned before turning on his other side. He really hoped Lizzy wasn't actually going to call in. He would rather just be late then not go in at all. He sat up, staring forward with a bored or tired expression on his face. He moved and got off his bed, but the second he stood and he became really dizzy. Roy put a hand on his head and pushed past the dizziness, walking toward the kitchen where he leaned against the wall and began coughing once again.

Lizzy was in the process of cooking his meal, almost finished, when she heard the soft thud of her cousin leaning against the wall, and him coughing. She glanced over her shoulder, but kept working with her left hand. "Good morning. Didn't I tell you not to get out of bed?" Her voice was cheerful enough on the surface, but beneath it was icy and threatening. She had had to play the role of a parent before, despite her young age, and she had become rather good at it. Returning her attention to the eggs cooking in front of her, she continued speaking, though a little louder so he would hear her even though she wasn't facing him. "I called Miss Riza a little while ago." Now she was definitely pulling out the big cards. "Now, what did she say again...? Oh, yeah-" She turned around to look at him and her eyes were practically glowing red. "Something along the lines of, 'Tell him to stay home and rest-or else.'" Then Elizabeth resumed her focus on the eggs she was nearly finished cooking, practically humming to herself.

Roy stared at her for a moment before he grumbled, "Women..." He repeated, before turning around and stumbling back into his room. He was more afraid of Riza then Elizabeth, but he knew Elizabeth could be quite frightening when she wanted to. But he also knew how scary Riza could be, so he would rather not find out what the 'or else' meant. He sat on his bed and stared at the floor, coughing again before laying back in his bed, staring at the ceiling. Today was going to be a very, very boring day, he knew that much, but he knew if he did not rest he would end up getting killed by two very frightening women. Or even a third—he knew if he did show up and if Riza and Alina saw him like this, he would never hear the end of showing up to work sick. He would probably end up being shot and drowned in a matter of seconds just to make him lie in a hospital bed and not move, plus whatever Lizzy would do to him. Roy sighed; nope, he definitely was not moving now.

Elizabeth glanced over her shoulder again to be certain Roy was gone, and had gone back to his room and his comfortable bed to rest. Then she actually did begin to hum softly to herself, occasionally singing quietly while she worked. Within moments she was finished cooking, and piled a small portion onto a plate for Roy, and a slightly larger portion for herself. She knew how small a person's appetite could get when they were sick, so she had made enough for both of them, plus more if he wanted another helping, which she could easily reheat. She carried both plates into his room, with only some difficulty, setting hers down on the floor beside his bed before placing Roy's gently on his lap. "Eat up, while it's warm. It should help you regain some of your strength." She left the room for a moment and came back with two glasses of orange juice tucked in her cast around her right arm, which she then set on his bedside table. Then she sat down on the blanket she had slept in and under the night before and began eating her own breakfast. She moved one of the glasses down next to her and chugged a good portion of it in several gulps. Making food always worked up an appetite, but then, what didn't? She always seemed to be hungry, or at least when she was, she ate quite a bit. Turning her head, she looked up at her cousin to see if he was enjoying it and smiled brightly. Lizzy was not exactly seeking approval, but if he thoroughly enjoyed her cooking, that was good enough for her.

Roy glanced at the food in front of him and slowly sat up before starting to eat it. He smiled some, and nodded. "It's...really good Elizabeth, thanks." He wasn't used to home cooked meals. Being well…a guy and in the military he never really had time to cook. He finished the food before grabbing the orange juice and starting to drink it. It would be good if his throat was not completely messed up, but he drank it anyway—he knew he had to.

Elizabeth smiled and nodded, and then finished off her own plate of food. After she had chugged the rest of her orange juice, she waited for her cousin to finish his breakfast and glass of orange juice. Then she carefully stacked their plates and glasses, and took them out to the kitchen. She quickly and temporarily rinsed them off, and then returned to Roy's bedside with another cool glass of water.

Once he finished it, he looked over to his cousin and smiled slightly, before nodding his head. "Thank you…really." He whispered before laying back down shutting his eyes starting to cough again. He hated this; his whole body still ached every time he barely moved. His eyes shut tightly as he groaned, coughing again. "You probably shouldn't be in here; I don't want to get you sick as well."

After setting the glass down on his bedside table, the black-haired girl looked down at him as he spoke. "I'll be fine." She insisted, shaking her head as she spoke. Lizzy had her reasons for being so adamant about not leaving him alone for too long, and taking care of him until he had returned to full health. Though she herself did not realize these reasons; the most important one being her family, and the siblings she had lost prematurely to a fatal illness. She always became terrified now whenever anyone she cared about became at all sick or unhealthy, and could not rest until they were better. Her cousin and only remaining blood relation, Roy Mustang, was no exception.

She did leave for a moment though, getting a wash cloth from the bathroom and drenching it in cold water. Then she wrung it out until it was merely damp and no longer dripping, and came back into his bedroom with it. As she walked, she carefully folded it-as best as she could with the awkward, limited use of her right arm and hand-then, once at his side again, gently laid it across his forehead. "That should help regulate your temperature...but stay under the blankets to sweat this out, okay?" Then she sat down on the edge of his bed, and waited, finally taking a moment to stop flitting about and be quiet.

Roy sighed when she said she'd be fine. "Elizabeth, at least go in the living room. If I need anything I'll be sure to tell you." he smiled some, "Please, I would never forgive myself if you got sick." He said softly, before glancing away shutting his eyes. "And don't come back in here once I fall asleep." He said opening an eye glaring over to her. "Promise?" he said smiling some, he wasn't mad at her at all he just didn't want her to get sick. He started to cough again, shivering slightly pulling the blankets over him as he slowly started to drift asleep.

Elizabeth turned and looked down at him, shaking her head. "I-I'll be fine, really." She insisted, but he continued insisting she leave the room. It may have been for her own good, but she still wanted to stay with him. But finally she bit her lip and nodded. She could not promise him she would not come back after he was asleep, but she would abide by his wishes for now. "Sleep well..." She murmured, closing the door gently behind her. Elizabeth sighed and trudged out into the hall, then across the room to the couch, where she sat down. She stared at the wall across from her for several moments, and then shook her head. She needed to stop worrying so much; she felt afraid, but did not know and refused to acknowledge why. She sighed as she reminded herself he was an adult and perfectly capable of taking care of himself-well, except for the fact he was a man, and this thought made her smile and giggle softly. Scratching her head, she flopped down on the couch, lying down and draping her left arm over her face. She was actually somewhat tired since she had not gotten much sleep the night before...

However, almost right as Mustang fell asleep and his cousin was drifting off, the phone started ring. Roy still didn't move, though, even though he was slightly startled awake but he soon fell back asleep, dead to the world once more.

The phone ringing startled Elizabeth back into being wide awake-a random thought occurred to her out of the blue that she had forgotten to call Edward and tell him she could not meet up with him that morning. Jumping off the couch, she made a mad dash for the phone and snatched it up before it could ring for too long and wake Roy more than she was sure it already had. "Hello?" Elizabeth rubbed the back of her neck gently with her left hand, sighing silently.

"Ah, Steel Wing?" The voice on the other end asked, before sighing slightly. "Is Mustang alright? I noticed he wasn't in his office sleeping, like he always is." Alina mumbled; her feet were on her desk, her eyes closed. "I did notice he didn't look all that well yesterday, I knew it wasn't all a hangover, he usually gets over those pretty quickly." She said glancing up at her ceiling, shutting her eyes, "I also know you and Fullmetal were snooping in my room, and despite the fact that I will continue to believe your little lie, I would eventually like to know the truth." She smirked slightly. "But that is for another time—right now I'm more concerned about the Brigadier General."

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes slightly in concentration, having to think for a moment to realize who was on the other end of the phone. "O-oh, Major General Stryker! Good morning. Yeah, I'm sorry about that, I-" She stopped as the Major General began talking about her awareness of her and Ed's snooping the other day, and she laughed nervously. "Uhh, anyway..." She mumbled under her breath. "-I only had time to call Major Hawkeye this morning." She said apologetically.

On the other end, she soon heard "Ow…Was that really needed?" from a very familiar voice of a blond Alchemist, "I just wanted to be sure she was okay, jeez." Edward muttered.

"Well I am talking to her, dumbass, what the hell do you think?" Alina snapped.

Lizzy fell silent when she heard that familiar voice make an exclamation of pain on the other end of the line, and Elizabeth's whole face flushed red. Trying to hide her embarrassment, she cleared her throat and fairly unsuccessfully tried to pretend she was not aware of Edward listening for the moment. "Brigadier General Mustang isn't feeling well, sir, so I'm making him stay home until he's completely better. I hope that's all right...?" She did not say it out loud, nor would she, but even if it was not okay, she would still not let him out of bed until he had made a full recovery, military be damned. Finally, Lizzy gave in and added. "Sir...would you mind apologizing to Ed-Fullmetal for me? I won't be able to meet with him and compare notes today like I promised." Thinking about her reason why, she unintentionally allowed the worry in her voice to be evident. Elizabeth was not going to be leaving Roy's side anytime soon, and that meant she would not leave his apartment.

Alina was listening to her before she gently nodded. "Yes, yes, I'm sure Major Hawkeye and I will cover for him." She said before leaning back shutting her eyes put her feet on her desk. "Please, be sure he gets well soon, and I'll tell him." She said smiling some. Edward blinked and leaned over. "Tell me what?" Alina soon just put her hand in his face and pushed him back keeping her hand on his face, to which he adamantly protested. "Oh, yes, also, I know Mustang and Hawkeye know of this, and since Fullmetal is in the room with me as well, I figure I might as well tell you both now." She said before opening her eyes. "There's a military ball in one week, it's not required but it's highly suggested. Most people will be there, including the Fuhrer. I really hope you both come."

Elizabeth smiled and sighed with relief when the Major General confirmed that her cousin would not be forced for any reason to go in until he was completely recovered. That took a little pressure off of her, and she could simply focus on helping him feel better. When Alina began to talk of something Riza and Roy already knew of and could now tell her and Edward-this confirmed Ed was in the room and listening, which made her smile again without realizing it-Lizzy blinked. "Yes?" She tilted her head, and then blushed slightly when the Major General said there was a military ball coming up. A "ball" sounded very fancy to her, and she had never been to something so extravagant, that she could recall.

Her mind was suddenly flooded with questions, but she was a little embarrassed to ask with Edward listening. Still, there was no way she could ask Roy since he was male-not that she was more of a tomboy than a lady herself-so she would have to ask either Alina or Riza, and since the Major General was already on the phone... "I-I assume the dress code is...formal, sir?" She had no idea where to get clothing like that since she owned none, and she was not knowledgeable enough to transmute something fashionable. Elizabeth needed to find a woman to take her shopping the moment Mustang was feeling well enough she could leave him. Now she was feeling excited and nervous all at once. The idea that one usually had or took a "date" to something like this did not cross her mind-and perhaps the point was mute since this was for "work" so her obliviousness would not be made too obvious.

Edward was blushing; he wasn't expecting that… He coughed before nodding. "Yes well…I suppose I could go." He whispered softly, still blushing some. Alina nodded slightly. "Good to know Fullmetal, now…get out of my office." She mumbled, Edward blinked and glared. "Fine, but you damn well better believe I'll be back." He promised, grinning as he left.

Alina nodded in response to Steel Wing's question. "It is formal, Is there, something wrong with that? I know I still have to go shopping to get a dress, I don't really own anything formal. Perhaps you'd like to come with me? At least, it sounds like you're a bit confused of the whole…formal thing. Maybe together we can figure out this girly stuff better, hm?" She asked, smiling some before pushing her hair behind her ear, "At least when Mustang is feeling better. If there's anything I can do please let me know." She offered. "So, what do you say about shopping together?"

Elizabeth shook her head profusely, though she knew the Major General could not see her. "N-no, there's nothing wrong with it, sir! I just don't own anything very...nice, so..." She mumbled, scratching the back of her head out of embarrassment. When Alina mentioned the idea of Elizabeth going shopping with her to find something to wear, the raven-haired girl perked right up. "Thank you, Major General, sir! I would really appreciate it." This would likely be her first time willingly doing something as girly as shopping, certainly in a major city like Central. "Shopping together sounds like a good idea. I'll be in with Roy when he's feeling better, and we can...discuss it then?" Again, Elizabeth felt excited, but nervous at the same time. She had had similar experiences with Winry, the Rockbells, and her own mother when she had been much younger, but nothing like this, and not in many years. She was definitely a tomboy, but this should still be a fun experience, if not interesting. Thinking of family again, she glanced down the hall towards Roy's room and her brow knit with worry. "I should go for now, though. Thank you again, sir, and I'll be sure Roy is up and well again soon." Then they said their goodbyes, and hung up their respective phones.

* * *

Elizabeth had hardly managed to sleep the whole time her cousin, Roy, was sick. She was worried about him, and spent all of her time taking care of him, or worrying. Sleep occurred every so often when her body could no longer keep her awake any longer, but it would not last long. It had been a few days, and with Roy finally feeling better, Elizabeth had managed to get at least a somewhat decent amount of sleep. The next morning, she rolled off the couch, still tired, but she hid it well enough; and better after she had showered, made breakfast, and eaten something-she had left plenty for Roy, of course. After getting changed she found him up and about in his uniform, looking much better.

It had been a few days, and Roy was finally better. He was up and walking around, and had his uniform on. "Thanks, for taking care of me, Lizzy." He said, smiling, before he opened the door to leave the apartment and jumped seeing Alina there. The dark-haired male quickly saluted his superior. "S—Sir, why are you here?"

"Don't mention it-" Lizzy was about to mention her plans with Alina for the day, as she had not yet had the chance to, but it was too late. She winced and smiled nervously as he opened the door and jumped at the sight of the Major General standing at his door.

Alina waved her hand. "Calm down, should know you don't have to be formal with me when I'm not in my uniform." She said before looking past him and smiling at Lizzy. "You ready?" She asked, tilting her head to the side, before turning to leave, walking towards a waiting car. She opened the driver's side door before getting in.

"Ah, yeah, I'm ready." Lizzy trotted out the door and towards Alina's car, but not before turning and waving to Roy. She was wearing black pants, boots, and her gloves as usual, but this time with a long-sleeve blue shirt which brought out the color of her eyes. "We're going shopping." She called, hoping he would not have a heart attack at the news. "I'll see you later, Roy!" Then she hurried into the car, shut the door, and smiled at Alina, still somewhat bashful but quickly getting over it.

Roy blinked a few times. "Wait…what?" He asked before shaking his head; he was confused by the Major General's casual behavior, and his cousin's sudden "girly" streak. "Never mind." He muttered before walking out the door, shutting and locking it behind him, and then walking toward Central HQ.

Once she knew Elizabeth was in as well, Alina started up the car and drove it to a nearby shopping center. There, she got out and sighed softly before pushing her chestnut-colored hair behind her ear; it was down and she just had on blue jeans and a green shirt. She glanced back at the younger female and smiled. Then she started to walk toward one of the stores, glancing back at her as she did so. "So, what do you think the chances are of us actually finding something, huh?" She asked, laughing some.

"I don't know, I think working together we're _bound_ to find _something_." Elizabeth said somewhat optimistically.

Alina laughed and nodded. "I should hope so." She said before starting to walk again. Just as she did, she nearly crashed into a short blond in all black, whom just glanced up and blinked at her a few times.

Elizabeth smiled nervously, and then began looking around in all the different stores. "Should we start in-?" She had begun to point to a store that looked promising, but stopped when she and Alina almost literally ran into a familiar blond male.

"M—Major General…!" He exclaimed before slowly looking to her right seeing Lizzy. "Erm…uh…Hi." Edward stuttered, blushing bright red, holding something behind his back. "Hey. Uh, Lizzy, I wasn't expecting you to…show up here, and see you now…here…now." He mumbled before walking over to her.

Elizabeth raised her left hand in a casual, but stiff wave. "Hey." She was as surprised to see him here as he appeared to be to see them, but she was doing a slightly better job at hiding it, and wasn't blushing. She tilted her head slightly to one side as Edward stumbled over his words, waiting and giving him a chance to speak.

Alina laughed softly before turning away and walking into the store Steel Wing had previously been indicating. She thought it best to leave the two young Alchemists alone for a moment.

As the Major General turned and left them alone to go inside, Elizabeth called, "I'll meet you inside!" Before returning her attention back to the Fullmetal Alchemist. She did not want to get left behind, but she was definitely curious as to what Edward was so flustered about, and what he was doing...or what he was up to, as it seemed.

Edward was still bright red and could barely look Elizabeth in the eyes as he pulled out whatever was behind his back, handing the flowers to his childhood friend. "W—Would you…be my date? To…this…ball?" He mumbled, rubbing the back of his head with his other arm. "I just...I think we should…go with each other." He struggled with his words again, still blushing bright red.

About the last thing Lizzy expected was the bouquet of flowers suddenly being handed to her. Her eyes widened, and she was stunned, for a moment in shock. She finally reached out slowly to take the flowers, holding them carefully. When Elizabeth's thinking capability finally came back, her thought-process was a little slow. "You mean like...ride there...together?" She seemed to have missed the part where he specified "date" or was too dense to realize how he meant it. He thought they should go together...did he mean because they were both around the same age, the youngest State Alchemists in the military, and not to mention childhood friends? It made perfect sense to her, actually. But then why did her cheeks feel so warm? "S-sounds good, Ed. Yes, I will." She finally gave him a real answer, nodding as she did so.

Edward was grinning from ear to ear. "Sorry about those. Alphonse told me if I didn't bring you flowers, he'd kill me." He mumbled bashfully, laughing some, looking into her eyes. "And…I—it'll be really fun...I promise." He said smiling, before walking over to her gently kissing her cheek. "I'll see you soon then…right?" He whispered softly.

Elizabeth shook her head profusely as she felt her cheeks grow even warmer and turn a deeper shade of red. "They're-they're really nice!" She looked down at the bouquet, then back up at Edward and gave him one of the happiest, most dazzling smiles she had in years. "They're beautiful, Ed. No one's done something like this for me before. Well, except for that time when we were little, and you and Al gave me the ones you had picked from that field." The memory made her laugh.

They had fought over who would give them to her, and had eventually ended up racing one another to her house, tying, and giving them all to her; but she did not remember it that way. Still, this was a gesture she would never forget. Elizabeth looked down at the bouquet she now held in her arms and smiled, nodding at his promise of a fun evening. When he kissed her on the cheek, she looked up, blinking in surprise and blushing a light shade of pink once again. She nodded, barely able to find words to speak again. "Uh-huh...see you soon." Then she waved and hurried to join the Major General in the store, still cradling the bouquet gently in her arms.

* * *

Alina was standing in the dress shop, getting mauled by one of the employees. The girl was throwing dresses at her telling her this would look good, and this and that and Alina wasn't really listening. She just took them before trying them on, with a few tries she had picked out a light blue dress for herself. After paying for it, she stood by the door and waited for the younger alchemist. She knew the incredibly way-too-happy employee would help Lizzy as well as she did Alina, and she hoped it would not take too long-she didn't have today off, she just told everyone she maybe really late…

Inside, Lizzy, too, was mauled by the overly-enthusiastic employee. She took the woman's advice on a few dresses, but blatantly told her "no" to some-particularly some pink ones which the jolly woman tried to _insist_ would look lovely with her hair and eyes. Elizabeth would not have it. Finally, Lizzy chose one she wanted, a midnight blue and black gown, paid for it, and joined Alina. "Thanks for waiting for me, sir...I can't believe we found dresses in the first store we visited." She marveled, still looking a bit frazzled from that overly-enthusiastic encounter; her euphoria and embarrassment-or rather, bashfulness from her conversation with Edward was far from forgotten. The flowers he had given her were now placed gently in the large bag which also held her new dress.

"No need to thank me, Elizabeth." Alina said with a kind smile.


End file.
